The Adventures of Spyro and Iseras
by scotty254
Summary: Spyro and his twin brother, Iseras, embark on various adventures through the dragon realms. Follows the original Spyro the dragon series. Rated T for violence. Feel free to give me feedback.
1. The Beginning of an Adventure

The Beginning of an Adventure

Two young dragons were walking through the clearing at the Artisan Homeworld. One was purple, with yellow wings, orange wing membranes, a yellow underbelly, yellow curved spines, yellow curved horns, and a spiral tail blade. The other was light blue, with a yellow underbelly, light blue wings, purple wing membranes, dark green spines, straight silver and black horns, and a curved scythe-like tail blade. There were several dragons being interviewed. Spyro saw a sheep and decided to chase it.

Iseras saw what Spyro was doing and decided to turn it into a game. Iseras chased the sheep to Spyro, who charged it and knocked the spinning sheep away. The two fell laughing before Spyro investigated the interview. "Gnasty Gnorc is a simple creature. He is contained in a remote world, and no threat to the dragon kingdom. Besides he is ugly." Several beams rained down out of the sky and froze the dragons. Spyro avoided the attack, and well as Iseras. "Looks like we've got some things to do." Spyro ran off with Iseras chasing after. "Hey brother, wait for me!"

They ran to where they saw Nestor last, only to find a crystal there. There was a platform underneath the dragon crystal, and Spyro and Iseras approached carefully. They sniffed the statue, and Iseras circled around it. "How do we get him out of there Spyro?" "I don't know Iseras." Spyro inadvertently stepped on the platform. The platform glowed and the crystal stated to break apart. They ran away, only to see Nestor again. "Nestor!" they shouted in unison. Nestor looked at his paws before saying, "Iseras, Spyro thank you for releasing me. Free the other dragons in the Artisan Home and collect our gems from the Gnorcs." "What about Gnasty Gnorc? I'm going after him." said Spyro. "Find dragons first. That's all I can tell you." and Nestor left for the Elder Chambers.

The two brothers looked out on the landscape. They saw gems everywhere and Spyro spotted a thieving Gnorc. Itching for a fight, Spyro glided down and slashed the Gnorc. It dropped the red gem and ran away. Sparx picked up the gem and gave it to Spyro. The gem disappeared upon hitting Spyro's scales. Iseras glided down and tripped the Gnorc, allowing Spyro to finish it off. It dropped the bag and Spyro gathered up the gems. "Aw man, these things don't fight." said Spyro disapprovingly. "Don't worry, these can't be the only Gnorcs around, and we have other Realms to explore yet. Ain't that right Max?" The dragonfly guardian assigned to protect Iseras nodded. Sparx, Spyro's dragonfly guardian also nodded. "See, even Sparx agrees with me."

They saw another dragon near the waterfall and Iseras stepped on the pedestal. A red dragon emerged and said "Thanks guys. Make sure you keep your dragonfly guardians strong. They love butterflies." and the dragon also left them. Iseras saw a Gnorc and said "My turn." and charged the Gnorc. It saw him and cringed up in fear. Iseras hit the Gnorc which disappeared in a puff of smoke and a single red gem appeared. Max collected the gem and gave it to Iseras. "You're right. These things are cowards and weak." They saw two Gnorcs sitting and talking to each other near a portal. "You take the one on the left; I got the one on the right." "Right." Spyro ran up to the left one and breathed fire on it, causing it to burst into flames and be reduced to ashes. Spyro gathered the gem when he heard Iseras go "whoa!" and saw him tumble into the portal that read "Stone Hill" Spyro sighed over his klutzy brother and flew in after him.

"Oof!" Iseras landed hard on the ground, and Spyro glided down. "Nice landing ace." Iseras groaned and got himself back onto his feet, only to get knocked aside by a bull. "Finally, an enemy that fights back!" Spyro breathed fire, killing the bull. "These things i_are_/i weak." Iseras trotted back over and Spyro saw that Max was blue, when he was supposed to be gold. "Ouch. Those bulls hurt." Spyro grinned and ran off to collect the gems that were lying around. While Spyro's back was turned, Iseras crept up on him and tried to scare him. Spyro saw him coming and moved aside, causing Iseras to smash through a chest and into a wall. The chest blew apart in a shower of splinters and a blue gem popped appeared. Max collected the gem and gave it to Iseras, who was shaking off the impact with the wall. Spyro was laughing so hard that he could barely breathe.

"It's not funny. That hurt. Come on, let's see if we can't free the dragons here and retrieve all of the gems." They ran around collecting the gems until they found a well. Spyro looked down it, and accidentally fell down it. "Smooth move" said Iseras before he too fell down the well. "Smooth move." "Hey look." Iseras pointed to a dragon crystal and a chest. Spyro gave Iseras a key that he found and stepped on the platform while Iseras unlocked the chest. The dragon emerged and gave a hint on where to find butterflies. He flew out of the well and a magical spiral appeared. Iseras walked into the spiral and he was lifted out of the well. Spyro followed and they continued to a tower.

They saw bulls and some kind of bird creatures wearing shepherds clothing and carrying a shepherd's staff. "Which one you want brother?" "I'll take the shepherds; you take the bulls. Make sure not to get hit again." Iseras grinned at his brother and ran off to fight one of the bulls while Spyro attacked a shepherd. Iseras clawed at the bull, making it retreat into a corner, where Iseras bit its neck. He collected the gem and ran off to fight another bull.

Spyro finished off the shepherd he was fighting. He quickly found out that the shepherds used their staffs to fight when he got hit by one. Spyro removed his tail blade from the dead shepherd and moved to fight another shepherd. He jumped over the staff and flamed the shepherd's clothing. The shepherd ran around before dropping dead and Spyro ran to collect the gem.

Iseras rejoined Spyro, and saw that Sparx was blue as well. "Too slow?" joked Iseras. "Try avoiding those staffs. They are fast." said Spyro. They scaled the tower and freed the dragon on top. He told them that there were egg thieves running around with dragon eggs. The dragon left, revealing an egg thief, dressed in blue and holding an egg. Iseras glided over and tried to chase down the thief, without success. Spyro glided over and laughed when he saw Iseras panting and walking back to Spyro. "Your turn brother." and Iseras collapsed to rest. Spyro chased the thief around and found out how fast those things were. Then the thief tripped over Iseras, who was still lying around, and Spyro attacked the thief.

The thief tried to get away, but was killed before he could escape. The egg settled on Spyro's back, who didn't know what to do with it until Sparx motioned for Spyro to follow. They came to a dojo where the four dragons they rescued were waiting. "You found an egg! Thank you!" The dragons took the egg and placed it on some bedding. "I see you also found all of the gems here. If you two will place them in this enchanted chest, you can be on your way." Iseras walked forward and placed all of the gems he found into the chest. Spyro did the same, and they were guided to a portal back to the Artisan Home.

To be continued…


	2. New Power

New Power

"Well, that was fun." said Iseras as he collapsed onto the grass at the edge of the portal. Spyro looked at his brother and mumbled "lazy." "Hey! I heard that!" Spyro laughed at his brother and went looking around for more frozen dragons. He spotted one at a large dragon head shaped portal and walked up to him. The dragon broke out of the crystal and told Spyro, "The Artisan ruler Gnasty Gnorc assigned here is in a portal in the dragon's mouth, but you are not yet ready. You and your brother must finish with the other Artisan lands first."

Spyro walked back to where he last left Iseras to see him walking around. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" "I found and freed another dragon, who said we have to clear out the other lands here. Then we go to fight the controller of the gnorcs here." Iseras looked at his brother disbelievingly. "Every single land? That's going to take us forever!" "Then we had better get started."

They ran off to the towers in Artisan Home and made their way to the top. There, they saw a portal that read "Town Square". "Let's go!" said Spyro as he leapt through the portal. Iseras sighed and leapt through after him.

They landed at Town Square and began to hunt for the dragons frozen there. As they searched, they saw a couple of bulls. "I got the left one!" said Spyro as he ran to fight the bull. "Spyro, no! Wait!" yelled Iseras as he raced after him. Iseras shoved Spyro out of the way and got hit by both bulls. Iseras was flung across the area and struck a wall.

Spyro raced over to him and noticed that Max was green instead of yellow and was not glowing. Iseras weakly got himself to his feet and an inferno raged in his eyes. As the bulls closed in, Iseras shot massive flames out of his mouth and nearly vaporized the bulls. Spyro's eyes widened when he saw Iseras's flame. Iseras was also amazed. 'i_Did I just do that?_/i' thought Iseras.

They found and freed the other dragons and returned the gems to them before heading home. "Dude I need to talk to someone about that fire of mine." said Iseras as he and Spyro searched for another portal. They were walking through a maze in Artisan Home. "Later Iseras; we still need to find that other portal. It's got to be around here somewhere." replied Spyro. They continued searching when Iseras finally said, "Spyro, I need to rest. I'm exhausted." Spyro turned and saw Iseras lying down, sweat pouring down his face. Spyro realized that Max hadn't had any butterflies since that incident in Town Square, and was still green.

Spyro desperately searched for butterflies to increase Max's strength. As he searched he came across the portal they were searching for. Not finding any butterflies in the maze, he entered the portal.

Spyro landed in Dark Hollow and proceeded to search the land for the frozen dragons and gems. It felt weird not having Iseras by his side as Spyro fought the Gnorcs alone. He freed the dragons and collected the gems, but before he left, he grabbed some butterflies and returned to the maze.

Spyro returned and raced back to Iseras, butterflies in paw. He found Iseras asleep and Max hovering near him. Spyro walked up to them and released the butterflies. Max chased them around and ate them, restoring his strength. Iseras woke up and looked at Spyro. "Okay, let's go find that portal." "I've already found the portal and released those inside." Spyro looked at Max again and noticed a greenish color still coming from him. "Iseras, are you sure you are okay?" Iseras looked quizzically at Spyro, then looked at Max. Iseras saw the greenish color and realized what he meant.

"Um, I feel alri-" Iseras stopped mid-sentence as he fell unconscious. Max also fell unconscious and Spyro panicked. "Iseras? Iseras! Wake up! Please!" Spyro cried as he tried his best to wake Iseras up. After many unsuccessful tries, Spyro lifted Iseras onto his back and carried him out of the maze. Sparx carried Max as Spyro took his brother to the elders.

The doors to the elder chambers burst open and Spyro came in with Iseras on his back. Sparx was carrying Max, who had turned a shade darker green. The elder dragons rushed up and carried Iseras to the medical room and looked over him. "Is he going to be okay?" asked Spyro worriedly. "He'll be fine, he's just suffering from dehydration and overexertion." said Nestor, relieved. Spyro was also relieved, but then remembered what Iseras had done before.

"So you're telling me that he breathed fire beyond what his limits were? Amazing." said Nestor as Spyro told the elders about what Iseras did at Town Square. "Maybe that's where he overexerted himself. Even a fully grown dragon would have some difficulty breathing fire that powerfully. He is lucky to be alive." "How is he doing?" "He's recovering just fine. The Artisans are some of the best healers of the Dragon Realms." "Spyro, once Iseras is recovered, you two will need to go to the Gnorc general here and defeat him. Then go to the balloonist and he will transport you to the Peace Keeper Realm. Free the dragons there, and learn what you can about combat and Iseras's fire."

Spyro walked in to the medical room to find Iseras sleeping peacefully on the bed. Spyro smiled and curled up next to him and also fell asleep. The next morning, Spyro woke up to find Iseras still sleeping. He decided to go get some breakfast while Iseras slept and recovered.

To be continued…


	3. A Dilemma

A Dilemma

Spyro returned to Iseras after breakfast to find him still asleep. '_Sleep well, brother. You need your strength._' thought Spyro. Iseras mumbled in his sleep and rolled over. Spyro smiled and laid next to him and was alarmed. '_My god! He's practically on fire!_' Spyro felt his forehead and found that Iseras was very feverish. Spyro panicked and ran for the elders.

"Slow down Spyro and tell us what's wrong" said Nestor. "Iseras has a very high fever! His body feels like it's on fire!" This alarmed the elders who summoned a healer to look at Iseras. The healer was worried about Iseras's deterioration. "This isn't just simply a case of overexertion and dehydration. He's suffering from some sort of unknown ailment. I'll stay here and try to find the cause." said the healer. Nestor turned to Spyro. "Spyro, you'll have to face the Gnorc General on your own."

Spyro looked back towards the elder chambers and wishing that Iseras was by his side. Spyro then turned to the portal and entered. Spyro fought through the guards and collected the gems there before confronting the general, Toasty. Spyro charged the general, only to get knocked sideways by a scythe. Sparx turned blue, and Spyro had a nasty gash in his side. With a grunt, Spyro got up and charged Toasty again. Spyro jumped over the blade and clawed at the arm. Toasty dropped the scythe and ran off to hide behind more of his minions.

Spyro dealt with the minions easily and attacked Toasty again. Spyro dodged Toasty's attack and lit Toasty's clothes on fire. The clothes burned away to reveal a sheep? Standing in front of Spyro was a sheep on stilts. the sheep ran away but Spyro followed close behind and knocked the stilts out from under the sheep. Feeling hungry, Spyro ate the sheep and returned to Artisan Home to tell the elders of his success. Upon returning, Spyro nearly fainted. Blood was flowing freely down the gash that Spyro had on his side.

Spyro struggled to the entrance of the Elder Hall, where he passed out from blood loss. A passing dragon saw Spyro and rushed him to the medical ward. The healer had just finished administering a medicinal herb to Iseras when Spyro was rushed in. His breathing was shallow and paleness was creeping into his purple scales. The healer immediately set to work. "_Oscera Serante._" mumbled the healer. Immediately the wounds began to close and the healer sighed in relief.

With a groan, Spyro opened his eyes. He looked around before realizing he was in the medical ward. "Ah, you're awake. I was getting worried about you. That was a nasty gash." said the healer as he approached. Nestor also approached and asked, "How are you feeling?" "Kind of weak, but okay. I defeated Toasty." Nestor brightened upon hearing that Artisan Home was fully liberated. "That's great news! Rest, Spyro. You'll need your strength." said Nestor as Spyro closed his eyes.

When Spyro awoke again, it was night. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and its light settled on Iseras. Spyro walked over and looked at his brother with sadness in his eyes. '_Oh, brother, when will you recover? It feels so lonely without you._' Iseras stirred slightly and grumbled a little bit before settling down again. His fever had not broken, and his breathing became labored. Spyro kept his eyes on Iseras's unconscious form before going to get something to eat.

Spyro kept low as he stalked the herd of sheep dozing in the night. With lightning speed, Spyro clamped his jaws down on his dinner and settled down to eat while the others ran off. Sparx chased a butterfly around and also ate. Spyro sighed contentedly and returned to the Elder Hall. He walked back to the medical ward and a single tear snaked its way down his eye as Spyro looked at his extremely ill brother. Iseras shivered in the cold night and Spyro laid down next to him and fell asleep, keeping Iseras warm during the night.

To be continued…


	4. Iseras Awakens

Iseras Awakens

Spyro awoke to the sound of coughing. The healer was next to Iseras listening to the lungs. Spyro yawned and asked, "What is going on?" "He's got something in his lungs. It's making it hard for him to breathe." Another fit of coughing gripped Iseras and Spyro looked on with worry. "Is he going to be okay?" "We shall see."

As the days turned into weeks Spyro helped the healer wherever he could to try to make Iseras get better. But everyone was extremely worried. Iseras's fever had only gotten worse, he was struggling to breathe, and he was coughing considerably. The healer was trying every medicine he knew and was even experimenting with some combinations. Spyro lay next to his brother and watched as another racking cough tore through Iseras. Spyro watched as he coughed and coughed, but was alarmed when Iseras coughed up blood. Spyro yelled for the healer and shortly after, the healer raced in to see Iseras cough up more blood.

Spyro and the healer tried their best to quell Iseras's coughing fit, but it wasn't until the Sun started to creep up on the horizon that they finally got it under control. Iseras had settled back down but his breathing had become even more labored. Nestor came to check on them in the early morning hours. "How is he?" "Much worse. He is now coughing up blood, his breathing has become even more labored, if he wasn't unconscious he would be in excruciating pain and his fever's so high we can't even touch him! I'm worried that he might set i_himself_/i on fire!" replied the healer.

"But, we have found something that at least slows down the degradation." said Spyro. "Well at least something is helping him, albeit not much, but it might give us enough time to find a cure." Nestor nodded and left to inform the others on what he found out. Iseras groaned and readjusted himself, shivering. Spyro lay down near Iseras and went to sleep.

Spyro awoke later in the day to an unusual noise. The Sun was just dipping below the horizon three days later and the healer was busily working, oblivious to the new noise. Spyro looked around for the source and found it coming out of Iseras. Spyro couldn't believe what he was hearing. Iseras was i_snoring_/i! "Hey, Iseras is snoring! My brother is actually snoring!" exclaimed Spyro. The healer ran over amazed at what he was hearing.

It took a couple of weeks, but Iseras's condition gradually got better. His fever broke, he stopped shivering, coughing, having labored breathing, cold sweating, and stopped mumbling in his sleep incoherently. Nestor was overjoyed that Iseras was making a recovery. It took another three weeks, but Iseras finally woke up.

Nestor appeared as soon as Iseras awoke. "Hey, he's awake. How do you feel Iseras?" "Like I've been asleep for four months but okay." Spyro looked at his brother and said, "You i_have_/i been asleep for four months Iseras. You almost died." Iseras gasped upon hearing that. "Iseras, do you remember anything while you were here? It could be important."

Iseras looked thoughtful and replied, "I remember someone coming in. I didn't get a look at them, since I was too tired to even open my eyes. He walked over next to me, and I felt a sharp prick in my neck. It stayed there for a few seconds, but disappeared and he left. After that, nothing."

Nestor looked thoughtful before asking "Healer; is it possible that he could have been injected with something?" "Possible. And it would explain a great many things." "What does this mean?" asked Spyro. "It means, Spyro, that someone tried to kill your brother."

To be continued…


	5. Demons Awaken

Demons Awaken

Spyro's jaw dropped when he heard that. Iseras was trying to piece together the puzzle that was forming in his head. "Guys, what happened while I was out?" Nestor and Spyro explained how he had deteriorated so quickly and their attempts at trying to heal him. "Oh my god." said Iseras as the pieces clicked into place.

Iseras was allowed to leave the medical ward after a few days of observation. After eating breakfast, Iseras and Spyro departed for the Peace Keepers. They walked in and freed Titan, the leader of the Peace Keepers. After talking with them, Titan flew off and Iseras spotted a Gnorc in a uniform. "Hey, looks like we got company." Spyro charged the Gnorc and killed it before it could raise an alarm. They walked out and immediately had to dodge a cannonball. Iseras dodged lest while Spyro dodged right. The cannon turned to face Iseras and  
Spyro, seeing an opportunity, charged the Gnorc and killed him.

They regrouped at the cannon and Spyro asked, "Do you think that we could use the cannon?" Iseras looked at where the cannon was pointed and saw that it was pointed at another cannon-Gnorc. Iseras grinned and lit the fuse with his fire breath. "Let's find out." The cannon fired and the ball struck the cannon-Gnorc, killing him instantly.

"Nice shot!" exclaimed Spyro as they ran up to the cannon. The other cannon-Gnorc was waiting for his partner, so Iseras lit the fuse and shot the other Gnorc. With the cannons out of action, Spyro and Iseras split up to face the remaining Army Gnorcs. Spyro saw two Army Gnorcs protecting the last cannon-Gnorc. Spyro charged the Gnorcs and grinned when the Army Gnorcs hid in their tents. He killed the cannon-Gnorc and flamed the tents.

Spyro was shocked when he saw the Gnorcs in the tents mooning him! Spyro killed one with a tail blade through the heart and flamed the second. Satisfied, Spyro went to meet with Iseras.

Iseras spotted a squad of Army Gnorcs and grinned. He ran up to them, but got spotted before he could attack. The Gnorcs immediately lowered their spears and Iseras, not having enough time to stop, plowed right into them. He cried out in pain and backed off, a spear imbedded in his left shoulder. Suddenly, Iseras felt an uncontrollable rage. He roared and breathed his flame at the squad, burning them to a crisp. Spyro came running up and said, "Iseras! Oh my god! Are you okay?" Iseras grunted and grasped the spear's pole with his jaws, and yanked it out. Tears welled up and Iseras whimpered. After spitting out the spear, Iseras mumbled "_Heicara_". Almost instantly, Iseras's injuries healed.

"Whoa brother, you barbequed those guys." "Wait, I did?" asked Iseras, confused. Spyro looked a little worried. "Yes you did. Do you not remember?" Iseras shook his head, "No, I don't. All I remember is getting really angry, then you running up to me. I don't remember anything in between."

"Let's not dwell on this, Spyro. The dragons here are counting on us." Spyro nodded and they ran off to Cliff Town. There, they saw big Gnorcs with paddles. Spyro got up close with one and clawed ferociously at its face. Iseras flamed another to a crisp. Iseras also got Max a few butterflies to restore his strength.

As they ran through Cliff Town freeing the dragons, they spotted a Thief in a corner. Smiling, they split up and attacked the Thief in two different directions. Unable to avoid the combined attacks, the Thief is quickly killed and the egg is retrieved. Spyro climbed up to a roof to spot for Iseras as he glided across the river that cut through the town and looked around for the dragons there.

Spyro saw a rocket attached to the roof and curiosity got the better of him. Spyro saw a fuse coming out of the rocket and decided to light it. The rocket shot off and hit a metal box that held a lot of gems. Laughing, Spyro went looking around for more rockets, not paying any attention to the enemies across the river.

Iseras was looking around for the dragons along this side of the river when he heard a squawking sound. Iseras turned and quickly ducked from a vulture that attacked him. Once again, rage filled up inside of him and he brutally attacked the vulture. After killing the vulture, Iseras saw several more and also brutally attacked them as well. When he was finished, Iseras shook his head and looked around.

After freeing the dragons, Iseras glided back to Spyro, worry and fear creased across his face. "It happened again." Concern creased across Spyro's face. "What happened?" "A vulture attacked me." Spyro and Iseras returned to the Peace Keepers home world and moved on through the other portals.

The duo returned from Dry Canyon, Spyro extremely worried and Iseras was afraid. While feeing the dragons there, Iseras lost control again and nearly attacked Spyro! "How many more realms are there?" asked Iseras. "Looks like only the Ice Caverns and the Gnorc general of this realm." Replied Spyro. "Okay. Spyro, could you do Ice Caverns on your own? I need to go talk to Nestor about what's happening to me." "Alright. Once you find out, tell me. Please." "Oh, and brother?" "Yeah?" "Leave the boss. I want to help you fight him." Spyro smiled as he departed for the Ice Caverns and Iseras returned to the Artisan home world.

To be continued…


	6. Understanding

Understanding

Back in the Artisan Home world, Iseras went to find Nestor. He hoped Nestor would be able to at least explain what was happening to him. He came to the Elder Chambers and sought out Nestor. "Excuse me?" he asked another dragon. "Could you tell me where Nestor is?" "Certainly. He's outside in the courtyard." Replied the dragon. "Thanks!" Iseras yelled as he ran off.

Indeed, Nestor was in the courtyard, alone. Iseras approached Nestor and said, "Father, I need to speak with you." Nestor turned around, a smile on his face. But the smile faded as soon as he saw Iseras's worried expression. "What is the problem, my son?"

"After I went with Spyro, something happened. Something I can't explain. While Spyro and I were fighting, I had gotten really angry. Everything went black and the next thing I know, all the enemies around me are dead and Spyro is looking at me with shock. It happened a couple more times and the last time, I nearly attacked my own brother! What's wrong with me?" cried Iseras.

Nestor looked at his son before answering, "Iseras, there is a time in every dragon's life when their inner demons awaken. Normally they don't awaken until your teen years and therefore, are easy to control. However, it seems that your inner demons awoke prematurely." Iseras stopped crying and said, "I'm scared dad."

Nestor smiled and replied, "You would be a fool if you weren't. Son, I know this is hard, but always remember, love is the most powerful magic there is. Spyro loves you and you love him. That bond is more powerful than any demon inside. Now let me tell you about the demons.

"Your inner demons are basically smaller evil versions of yourself. They test your strength and will. However, your demons want control. The more you use negative emotions, the more powerful they become. You are not weak, son. Most dragons your age would have lost themselves to their demons. Given that your demons are obviously powerful, demonstrates that you can control them. I will help you gain more resistance to them, and how to regain control should you lose yourself."

Meanwhile Spyro was trudging through the Ice Caverns. He had already encountered several small snowball-throwing Gnorcs and a large Gnorc. He spotted another Gnorc and snuck up behind him. With a quick slash of his claws, Spyro killed the Gnorc.

As he continued through, Spyro got a tip from another dragon that a big Gnorc was wearing armor, and armor was slippery in the Ice Caves. Spyro spotted the Gnorc and charged it, hitting it right off the edge. The Gnorc screamed as it fell to its death.

Spyro spotted and killed a few more Gnorcs before returning to the Peace Keepers Realm.

At the same time, Iseras's father, Nestor, was teaching Iseras on how to control his inner demons. "A demon's greatest weakness is positive emotions. Remember the moments in your life that brought you happiness. Whenever you begin to feel your anger, think of those times."

Nestor continued teaching Iseras for a week before Nestor said, "That is all that I can teach you. Go back to the Peace Keepers and tell them to give you more training in this. And tell them I gave the okay." Iseras nodded and hugged his father before leaving.

Upon returning to the Peace Keepers, Iseras told Spyro about what he had learned. "So from now on, I'm going to have to be more careful. Or I will fall into darkness forever." Spyro looked at Iseras with grief in his eyes. "Why you? Why not me?"

"Brother, sometimes fate throws a cruel twist into our lives. How we cope with them is what determines who we are. I'm not going down without a fight." smiled Iseras, making Spyro smile as well.

"Now let's go kick Doctor Shemp's Gnorc butt." said Spyro. "Alright! Race ya!" Spyro and Iseras raced each other to the portal. "Oh so close. You win." said Iseras. They entered and immediately had to dodge a Gnorc that ran after them. The Gnorc fell off the edge and Iseras killed the big Gnorc. They reached a fork and Spyro said, "You go left, I'll go right."

Iseras walked along the left fork, every sense alert for an ambush. He saw several Gnorcs lounging about and decided to give them a nasty surprise. But before he could, Iseras felt a powerful _whack_ across the back of his head and he blacked out.

Spyro had cleared through several ambushes set up for him. He scoffed at how poorly set up they were. Obviously they weren't expecting him. Spyro made it to Doctor Shemp and freed the dragon there before confronting the Gnorc general. "Ah, so you've finally made it Spyro." "Your going down." Doctor Shemp laughed and said, "If you're so confident, why don't we amp up the stakes?"

Doctor Shemp stepped aside to reveal Iseras, bound and gagged with several Gnorcs standing around him. "Iseras!" cried Spyro. Iseras weakly opened his eyes and looked at Spyro. "Hahaha, do with him as you like." Doctor Shemp ordered the other Gnorcs. Immediately they turned and began beating on Iseras.

"Noooo!" yelled Spyro as he tried to go help his brother. But Doctor Shemp quickly got in his way. "The only way you are going to save your brother is to fight me." Spyro wasted no time and examined his opponent. Doctor Shemp was armored all over his front, but not his back.

Seeing a weakness, Spyro attacked. Doctor Shemp tried to hit him with his staff, but Spyro was too quick. Spyro dashed behind Doctor Shemp and flamed his rear. Doctor Shemp cried out and ran away, patting the fire on his butt. Spyro followed and continued pouring flames into the unprotected rear of Doctor Shemp. Soon he was nothing but ashes and Spyro ran over to save his brother.

Spyro quickly killed the Gnorcs and looked over his brother. Iseras was crying and whimpering. He had a black eye, multiple bruises, and a broken leg. Spyro cut the bonds and removed the gag. "Iseras? Brother?" asked Spyro, gently nudging Iseras with his muzzle. All he got was a weak whimper.

Spyro wasted no time and immediately hoisted Iseras onto his back and raced back to the Peace Keepers Realm. He returned and yelled, "Help! Somebody please help me!" Several dragons came running up and asked, "What's wrong?" "Please, my brother needs help!"

The Peace Keepers took Iseras to their medical ward and examined him. After an hour and a half of waiting, Spyro finally got to see Iseras. Iseras only had a splint on his broken leg. "That is one tough brother you have there. Those injuries would have killed most others his age." "Is he going to be okay?" "He'll recover. All he needs right now is rest."

"I shouldn't have let him go alone." said Spyro gloomily. Titan came up and said, "The same thing would have happened to you Spyro. He only got caught because he lacks proper training. You both do." "Can you help us Titan?" Titan laughed and said, "Of course, but not until Iseras is recovered. Meanwhile, you can tell me about his amazing flames." And thus Spyro delved into a tale about Iseras's extraordinary flame.

To be continued…


	7. Meeting the Instructor

Meeting the Instructor

"And that's when he discovered his flame." said Spyro, finishing his story. "Amazing. He truly is remarkable. And from what I've heard, you're quite the physical combatant." Spyro beamed at the praise Titan gave him. "Come on; let's go check on your brother." The pair walked into the medical ward to find Iseras waking up.

"Ohhh, anybody get the number of that Peace Keeper?" asked Iseras as he woke up. He opened his one good eye and saw Titan and Spyro standing there smiling. "You are one tough cookie. Nothing that time won't heal." Iseras sighed, relieved, then gasped in pain as he tried to move his broken leg. "I wouldn't move that leg. We placed a splint on it to help it heal, but you won't be able to walk properly for a couple of weeks."

So Iseras stayed bed-ridden for a week before his leg was healed up enough to allow him to walk around. He walked awkwardly with the splint still on his leg, but he managed. Titan escorted them to a training room and asked Iseras, "Could you show me that flame of yours?"

Iseras grinned and let loose a torrent of flames. Titan's eyes widened in utter shock to see a young dragon breathing fire as powerful as an adult dragon! Iseras quit and he felt a strange feeling rise up in him. Before he knew it, everything faded into darkness.

"Iseras; that was amazing! You have an incredible gift my friend." said Titan. Iseras slowly turned and snarled. Titan looked at Iseras and noticed that his eyes had a slight white tint to them. _Whack_! Spyro's tail hit Iseras in the back of the head, snapping him out of the demons' control. Iseras sighed and said, "Thanks."

"What is the matter with you Iseras?" said Titan, anger seeping into his voice. "Threatening me is a dumb move. Were you not in your right mind or something?" "Exactly." replied Iseras coolly. "What?" "I was not in my right mind. Titan, what I have to say is important, so please listen."

The three got comfortable in the training room so that Iseras could recite his tale. "Spyro, you'll need to fill in Titan on what happened while I was out." Spyro nodded and Iseras began.

"Shortly after I had discovered my amazing fire, I passed out." Spyro stepped in from there. "During that time, Nestor had summoned a healer who said it was just dehydration and overexertion. But as time went on, Iseras got worse. He began getting symptoms that would have killed him if it weren't for the healer's and my efforts. I had beaten the general in the Artisan Home and stayed close to Iseras's side. It took us a few months, but Iseras got better."

Iseras continued, "When I woke up, everyone was overjoyed. But later, Nestor revealed that someone had tried to kill me. It deeply affected both my brother, and me but we continued. However, it seems that this attempt on my life awoke my inner demons prematurely. Because of this, I had gone to Nestor who explained everything to me and gave me some training. He also told me to tell you to continue the training he started. What you had witnessed was me losing control of myself."

Titan stared at the duo before saying, "I'm glad you told me this. We will start your physical combat training as soon as you are completely healed Iseras, but we will also continue the training Nestor gave you. You are a very strong individual to resist the demons as well as you have."

They returned to the medical ward where Iseras was helped back onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. "He sure is a sleeper." remarked Titan. Spyro laughed and said, "That's my brother."

The next week went by without a hitch. Titan had told the other Peace Keeper council members about Iseras's condition and his amazing abilities. The others wanted to see Iseras's flame but a protective snarl from Spyro and an account of what happened from Titan contained their curiosity until Iseras completed his mental training.

The splint came off of Iseras's leg and he stood up on all fours. The healer examined the leg and asked, "How does it feel?" "It's a little stiff but it doesn't hurt." After the healer cleared him the pair ran down to Titan, eager to begin their training.

Spyro and Iseras followed Titan to where the other young Peace Keepers were being trained. Being in a remote location, they never knew about what had happened. Titan introduced them to the instructor, Jiaolian. After he left, Jiaolian looked over the brothers with a critical eye.

"Hmph. Nothing special about you two. Not a lot of muscle, obviously untrained. You guys are pathetic." said Jiaolian. "We've done pretty good so far." countered Spyro. "Bah! Only luck has gotten you this far. Look at yourselves!" "Looks can be deceiving." retaliated Iseras. "Ha! If you think you have any skill, you are dead wrong! Defend yourselves!" Jiaolian roared before charging them.

Spyro quickly slid under the dragon while Iseras flipped over him. The pair immediately had to dodge the flames that were shot at them. Spyro avoided the flames but got hit hard by Jiaolian and went skidding across the ground. He growled in pain and noticed that Jiaolian was coming up on him.

A flash of blue and a yell of surprise was all Spyro needed to get back onto his feet. Spyro saw that Jiaolian held Iseras by his tail in his jaws. Jiaolian bit down and drew blood. Iseras roared in pain and Spyro hit Jiaolian's head and made him drop Iseras.

Iseras wasted no time and whacked Jiaolian in the back of the head with his tail. Jiaolian growled in pain and stumbled a bit before regaining his senses. He roared and attacked Spyro ferociously while keeping Iseras at bay. He grabbed Spyro and was about to bite down, when Iseras bit _him _on the neck.

Jiaolian dropped Spyro and threw Iseras off of him. The two got up and readied for the next attack. Jiaolian attacked mercilessly and forced the other two to retreat. But it wasn't long before they were able to hold off Jiaolian without losing ground.

With a roar, Jiaolian slapped Iseras across the head with his tail, sending him flying across the ground. Spyro ran over to his brother's side and saw that he was pallor, sweating and had a weak pulse. Jiaolian hit Spyro and began pressing down on his chest. At the same time, he clamped down on Iseras's throat, choking him.

One of the students shouted, "Stop! One of them is pinned and the other is in shock! You're killing them!" The words fell on deaf ears as Jiaolian squeezed the life out of the brothers. "ENOUGH!" yelled Titan as he flew in with one of the students who had gone to get help. Jiaolian growled and didn't relent. Spyro and Iseras's scales were getting a bluish tint as asphyxiation set in.

Titan and several students pried Jiaolian off of the pair. He roared and tried to get free, blood lust in his eyes. Other students checked on the brothers. Iseras was still suffering from shock, but Spyro was okay. Thanks to several students, Iseras was stabilized. The healer arrived a few minutes later and patched up Iseras.

After Jiaolian had calmed down, he came up to Spyro and Iseras who were chatting with the other students. "Spyro, Iseras?" They looked up at him, hate and fear in their eyes. "I just wanted to apologize. I let my temper get the better of me and I shouldn't have said the things that I did. Because of this, I am sorry." Jiaolian dipped his head in shame, but was surprised when Iseras spoke up.

"I can't speak for my brother, but I forgive you." Jiaolian looked into Iseras's eyes and saw understanding behind them. Iseras walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "You aren't the only one who has trouble containing the demons within." Jiaolian was shocked to hear that Iseras also has to combat inner demons.

"I also forgive you." said Spyro. Jiaolian smiled and said, "You two do have combat experience. Also, nobody has ever drawn blood from me before on their first fight against me. It seems that all you need is some training and you two will be quite the combatants." Titan pulled him aside and spoke with him privately while the students were expressing their amazement.

"I've never seen anybody end their first fight with him in a draw!" said one student. Others also expressed their amazement, but they were few in number. Most students were jealous of the pair.

After Titan finished, Jiaolian returned and said, "So Titan has given me instructions to train you two in both the elements and physical combat. Also Iseras, we will begin your special training alongside your combat training. Join the other students and we will begin."

To be continued…


	8. Combat Training

Combat Training

As the day progressed Spyro showed an astounding ability for physical combat. He mastered moves with relative ease and surpassed a great many students. Iseras was also surpassing a great many students but he had a harder time with physical combat. "Phew! I'm exhausted." remarked Iseras after another hard day of training. "Really? I didn't find it that difficult. I barely broke a sweat."

"Oh shut up! Just because you can breeze through this doesn't mean we all can." Spyro giggled and Iseras tackled him. The two laughed as they play-fought and wrestled with each other, unaware that Jiaolian was observing them. He scowled at the playing pair; no dragon under his tutelage has ever roughhoused like this!

The pair continued to wrestle with each other before several students came up to them. The pair stopped and looked at the dragons. "Can we help you?" The students didn't answer but instead charged the tired duo, catching them off guard. Before they could react, Spyro and Iseras were pinned underneath several students.

Jiaolian saw the commotion and was enraged. He immediately went down there to break up the fight. When he landed, he saw one student advance on Spyro and bite him…hard. Spyro screamed as a chunk of his flesh was ripped off of him. "Spyro! No! My brother! Stop hurting my brother!" yelled Iseras as he struggled to get free. Jiaolian picked up the pace as the dragon tore away at Spyro and the others pressed harder on Iseras.

"That's enough!" Jiaolian yelled. The students immediately recoiled and Iseras bolted for Spyro. Several open wounds pockmarked his body. Jiaolian scowled and summoned the healer. "He won't make it in time! Spyro's dying!" Spyro began to close his eyes and Iseras yelled, "No! Stay awake! Please!" "So…tired." mumbled Spyro.

Iseras sobbed as his brother was slowly dying. Out of desperation, Iseras placed both paws on Spyro and yelled, "_Oscera Serante_!" Iseras's paws glowed as Spyro's injuries slowly healed. After a minute, Spyro was completely healed. Everyone looked in awe at Iseras. The healer arrived to see everyone okay. "Why was I summoned? There is no one injur…ed." The healer looked at Iseras's paws, where the glow was fading away.

"What did you do?" asked the healer. "I…don't remember." "I believe that you know of the spell _Oscera Serante_?" asked Jiaolian. The healer looked at Iseras with pure amazement. "Y-you healed him? That's a powerful spell! It took me years to master it." "I don't know how I did it, but I'm glad I did." said Iseras tiredly.

"I'm surprised that you're still conscious. Most first-time magic-users pass out when they use a powerful spell. How do you feel?" "Very weak. I can hardly lift my head." Meanwhile, Jiaolian was reprimanding his students. "How dare you attack them like that! I taught you better! Attacking an opponent when they are at their weakest is a dirty, underhanded tactic. I am ashamed of you!" He continued his reprimand while Spyro and Iseras departed with the healer to get some rest.

After several more days of training, Iseras had finally managed to control his demons enough that he was allowed to attend combat training on a regular basis. "Okay, today you guys will be sparring with one another. Show me what you have learned." The group split up into pairs, Spyro and Iseras paired up, naturally.

As Jiaolian looked at the groups, he noticed that Spyro and Iseras had once again began play fighting. "Spyro! Iseras!" The pair walked over to him and asked, "What is it you need sir?" in unison. "Since you two like to goof off so much, why don't you show us what you're made of?"

Spyro and Iseras were told to fight with a couple of older students; both of them were many years ahead of Spyro and Iseras in training. "Begin!" bellowed Jiaolian. Spyro's combatant rushed him, only to get a face plant into the ground from tripping over Spyro's tail. He jumped back up only to have Spyro knock him over a force the breath out of his lungs. The two wrestled for a good five minutes before Spyro had forced the older student to submit.

Iseras, on the other hand, was getting knocked around a lot. He had been whacked on the side, scratched, bitten, slashed, but he never gave up. Iseras got himself back onto his feet only to get knocked away again. Iseras got back up and slid under the older student, his back spines scratching the underbelly. The other dragon growled in pain and tried to attack again, only to have Iseras leap onto his back and bite down on his opponent's neck. Iseras was the victor as well.

After Spyro and Iseras regained their breaths, they walked back to Jiaolian. "Amazing you two. I've never seen anyone be able to use their play fighting and wrestling and apply them to actual combat. I'm impressed with both of you." "Thank you sir." they answered in unison.

"Spyro, you have great combat skill. You've mastered techniques well beyond your years. You have more to learn, but that will need to wait until you are older. Well done." "Thank you sir!" replied Spyro enthusiastically.

"Iseras, what you lack in combat skill you make up for in determination. No matter how many falls you take, no matter how many hits you receive, you always get back up. Not many have that gift. Well done." "Thank you sir!" Iseras replied with equal enthusiasm. "I am also happy to tell you that your special training has proceeded enough to allow us to proceed to elemental training. We begin next week."

Spyro and Iseras were ecstatic about finally learning about their fire. "We finally get to learn how to use our fire Spyro!" "Yes, isn't it great? We will finally be able to kick a whole lot mere Gnorc butts." They were so busy talking to each other that they never noticed a small group of older students approach them. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the two freak shows." Spyro and Iseras stopped in their tracks and looked at the group.

"Look fellas, we aren't looking for a fight." said Iseras, hoping to get away. "Well too bad, cause you got one." The dragons attacked the two brothers and hammered them. The group was much stronger and farther along in training than Spyro and Iseras. Iseras was knocked to the ground and had several ribs broken. Spyro was knocked unconscious.

As the dragons dragged Spyro away Iseras cried out, "Spyro!" one of the dragons said, "If you ever want to see your brother again, you'll have to beat us in combat. Meet us at the battlefield in two weeks, or we kill your pathetic brother." The dragons left Iseras where he lay, laughing and talking about how easy it was.

Iseras just laid there and cried. His chest hurt so much, as well as the rest of his body. His brother was taken, and he was too badly injured to be able to fight well in two weeks.

Titan was strolling down the hall when he heard someone crying. Curious, he went to investigate to find Iseras beaten and bloody. "My god!" Titan picked up Iseras and rushed him to the healer. After twenty minutes, in which the rest of the council had arrived, the healer was able to tell everyone his diagnosis.

"When he was brought in, Iseras had multiple slashes, cuts , and bites. He also had several broken ribs, which are beyond my capacity to heal. Those are all that's left." "Can we speak with him?" "As long as his answers are short. It's hard enough for him to just breathe."

The council members arranged themselves and began to ask him questions. "What happened Iseras? Keep you answers short if you have to." Iseras nodded and started, "Several students fought Spyro and me." Iseras gasped for breath before continuing. "They beat us and took Spyro." A few tears came out of Iseras and the council members growled in anger. "We swear we will find these dragons and get your brother back alive! You can count on us."

"Wait." The council members looked at him again. "They said I am to meet them on the battlefield in two weeks, or my brother dies." The Peace Keepers council member's faces paled when they heard this. "Iseras, do you know what the battlefield is?" Iseras shook his head. "It is basically a death match arena. If you lose, you die. Because they have your brother, you will have to fight them."

Iseras listened as the council began to strategize on how to get Spyro back alive and keep Iseras alive. Fierceness came over Iseras as he listened to the conversation. '_Just wait Spyro. I will get you back safe and sound. I promise you!'_ thought Iseras as sleep overcame his weary body.

To be continued…


	9. Battle For Spyro

The Battle for Spyro

As the deadline approached, the Peace Keepers taught Iseras as much as they could to him about fire. Iseras learned quickly, and six days before the deadline, he had learned as much as he could. His ribs still gave him trouble for they hadn't healed yet.

"Practice as much as you like, Iseras. But don't overdo yourself." said Titan as he left. Iseras worked hard on breathing his fire. He torched several dummies at once, but when a dummy tried attacking him from the side, he shocked himself-literally! Instead of breathing fire, he breathed electricity!

Titan had waited outside the door when he heard the crackling sound of electricity! He burst in to find a dummy roasted and electricity arcing out of Iseras's mouth. Iseras breathed deeply as the electricity died away and he stared at Titan, shocked.

"You have quite the gift Iseras. Not many can do electricity without magic." remarked Titan. Iseras had returned to his room to rest. Iseras smiled and said, "Well, my brother is the best physical fighter, so why can't I be the best elemental fighter?" Then Iseras frowned and sighed, "I miss Spyro." as he laid his head down and drifted off to sleep.

It was four days until the deadline and Iseras was nervous. After learning about his electric breath, he had been learning on how to control it. Iseras sighed as another dummy crumpled, spasming from the electricity dancing across it. "You seem nervous. Care to talk about it?" asked Jiaolian.

Iseras sighed deeply and said, "Yeah, I'm nervous. If I lose, it means my life. But if for any reason, they decide to be cowardly, they might kill Spyro before I can reach him. With this deadline, and my injury, I'm not sure if I can beat them. It has made me scared."

"Don't worry Iseras. The Peace Keepers will be there to make sure you both survive. These students may have been better than you and Spyro, but you have trained and they have not. Also, they couldn't hope to beat a fully trained Peace Keeper. Just remember who you're fighting for, and nothing or no one will be able to stop you. I've seen the love you hold for your brother, and that love has given you more strength and determination than anybody that I have ever met."

Jiaolian's speech lifted Iseras's spirits and he continued training his electricity element. It was one day before the deadline and Iseras was nervous, angry, and frightened at the same time. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw those students killing Spyro in some horrible way while Iseras could only watch helplessly.

Iseras awoke with a gasp sweat pouring down his face. He panted before he heard a knock. "Come in." Titan walked in and he asked, "Something wrong?" "No, bad dream." Titan nodded in understanding and said, "It's time." Iseras nodded and left with Titan. Outside, he saw Titan, Jiaolian, and several other Peace Keepers ready to go.

"Follow that path down to the battlefield. We'll be getting into position. Good luck." said Titan as he took off with the other Peace Keepers. Iseras walked down the path towards his fight to get his brother back.

He arrived at the battlefield to find the others waiting. "So he did come. Good." said one of them as they lined up. Iseras faced them and asked, "Where is my brother?" "Oh, he's somewhere safe." "That's not what I asked." growled Iseras. "WHERE IS MY BROTHER?" he roared. The group took a couple of involuntary steps backwards, then parted to allow Iseras to see Spyro, alive. He was chained to the ground and had been severely tortured, but he was alive.

"Now that you have seen him, let's get down to business." "Bring it." "Ooohhh, cocky aren't we? Since you're so enthusiastic, let's amp up the stakes. If you lose, he dies." and the leader pointed straight at Spyro. The group laughed and walked over to stand next to Spyro.

Iseras got into a battle stance and he growled a challenge. The other six responded and the fight began. Two dove at him but Iseras nimbly leapt up and over the pair, sending them face first into the ground. Iseras then whipped around in midair and struck another with his tail blade. The dragon retreated and growled in pain.

"Oh, by the way, I never got your names. Mine's Iseras." The other dragons chuckled. "Since you are so eager, my name is Lerac." said the leader. "Kengas." "Trenac." "Gelta." "Mencer." "Corand." "Seolur." Iseras tripped Trenac and sent him bumbling right into Corand and Seolur. Lerac hit Iseras in the gut and sent him flying into Kengas. Kengas went to hit him, but roared in pain as Iseras's spines dug into him. Iseras dropped and slashed Kengas across the throat. Blood poured from the wound and Kengas dropped dead.

Corand tried to flame Iseras, but Iseras dodged, getting only minor burns and retaliated with a much larger flame. Corand roared in pain as he felt his right wing get torched. Corand backed out, his heavily charred wing hanging limply from his side. Mencer sneaked up on Iseras from behind and bit down on Iseras's tail. Iseras roared in pain, whipped around, and spat a fireball right into Mencer's face. Mencer roared in pain and passed out. That only left Seolur, Trenac, and Lerac.

Iseras's tail was bleeding profusely, but he didn't let it slow him down. Trenac hit Iseras in his broken ribs with a fireball, which caused Iseras to roar in pain and collapse. Seolur walked over and stepped on him, slowly pressing down. "I believe that you have-yeouch!" Seolur roared as Iseras bit down hard on Seolur's paw. Iseras felt and heard the bones snap as he bit down harder. Iseras let go, his teeth red with blood. Seolur limped back before roaring and charging Iseras.

Iseras lowered his horns and let Seolur hit him. He felt Seolur's ribs break and he threw his horns up, tossing Seolur over himself and sending him several feet behind him. Seolur landed on the ground and barely moved, having a hard time breathing. Trenac tried to hit Iseras with another fireball, but Iseras intercepted it with a fireball of his own. The fireballs exploded, temporarily blinding Trenac. Lerac attacked Iseras and bit down on his neck. Iseras roared and slashed Lerac's hind leg. Lerac released Iseras and backed away.

Trenac was just getting over his blindness when Iseras attacked him. Trenac roared and tried to retaliate, but kept missing. Iseras sliced Trenac's gut open, leaving him writhing in pain for a moment before he stabbed through Trenac's heart. Iseras was panting hard and was standing on shaky legs. Lerac laughed, "You're so exhausted that you can barely stand! I on the other hand, am still strong!" Lerac hit Iseras again ad again, slashing, biting, stabbing, and slicing. Iseras was severely beat up, but he kept on getting back up.

"Why do you still fight?" Lerac roared. "Because I still have something to fight for." replied Iseras and he shot electricity at Lerac. Lerac's eyes widened as the electricity slammed into him. He collapsed as his muscles failed to respond. "I believe that I win." said Iseras. Regaining some control of his speech, Lerac roared, "K-K-Kill him!" Gelta went to slash Spyro's throat open, but was stopped when Jiaolian smashed him into the ground. The other Peace Keepers also rushed in and took Lerac, Gelta, Seolur, and Mencer away. Iseras was more red than blue and was on the verge of passing out, but he had to make sure Spyro was alright.

Iseras walked over to Spyro to find him getting freed from his bonds. Spyro stood up and rushed to Iseras's side. "Thank you brother! You saved my life!" said Spyro as he embraced his brother as best as he could. Titan came up and said, "Well done, Iseras. What's the matter?" "I killed two of them. I know I've killed a bunch of Gnorcs, but this is different. Those two were fully living beings. And I killed them." replied Iseras just before passing out.

Iseras was rushed back to the healer who dropped everything and immediately set to work on healing Iseras. While they were waiting, Spyro asked Titan, "Why was Iseras so distraught? I've never seen him like that." Titan replied, "Iseras suffered from post-traumatic stress. He is going to have it for several days. During that time, he'll need you more than ever." Spyro nodded. It was the least he could do for his brother.

To be continued…


	10. The World of Magic

The World of Magic

Iseras woke up a day later, and Spyro was by his side in an instant. "How do you feel?" Iseras looked at Spyro and Spyro was shocked. His eyes were haunted, as if he had done the worst possible deeds. "Hey, it wasn't your fault. I heard what they had planned to do to you, and what you did was nice by comparison."

"I still can't get it out of my head. Their faces as they died. Their blood on my claws, my tail, my body. I killed them without mercy, Spyro." "Relax brother. They will never hurt anyone again and I am here by your side again. I am here for you."

Spyro stayed by Iseras's side as he went through the whole ordeal. As the days progressed, Iseras got better and better until he was almost back to his usual self. They were on their way to the Peace Keeper Council chambers to say what Spyro and Iseras had heard from the gang of dragons that attacked them. Titan was waiting for them outside the doors. "Spyro, could you wait outside? Iseras, the others are expecting you." Spyro and Iseras nodded and Iseras went inside while Spyro waited.

Titan came up to Spyro and asked, "How is Iseras doing?" "My brother is doing better. But he still hasn't completely returned to himself." Titan nodded, "I doubt that he will Spyro. He will carry those scars forever. You have to realize that killing a living being always leaves the killer with a scar. But thanks to you, he has recovered well."

Iseras emerged a few hours later to and nodded at Spyro, who went inside. Iseras took his place by Titan's side. "I see that you are better." "Yeah, but I still feel the effects." "Yes, as I was telling Spyro, you will never completely heal. But you have recovered, and that's what's important." Iseras chuckled, "Yeah, just look at my tail." Iseras held his tail up to where Titan could see it clearly. The part of the tail near the tail blade was noting but scars. Iseras also bore scars across his body from the recent fight.

"Hey, at least nobody's going to make fun of me, right?" Titan couldn't help but laugh at Iseras's remark. Iseras also grinned as Spyro came out. "It's done." Titan motioned for both of them to join him as he entered. Lerac, Gelta, Seolur, and Mencer stood in the center of the chamber. Iseras and Spyro stood on either side of Titan as the sentence was carried out.

"Due to the testimony received by the victims, and evidence provided, we find you all guilty of first-degree attempted murder. You are herby sentenced to exile." With the sentence invoked, the four were led away to the Peace Keepers to live their lives in exile. Spyro and Iseras were happy that they would never have to meet them again, but their happiness was short-lived.

"Spyro, Iseras, could you please come to the center?" Spyro and Iseras slowly made their way to the center, uncertainty and fear evident in their eyes. "Now Iseras, though you have killed two dragons, we have unanimously agreed that the act was committed in self-defense, therefore no charges have been brought against you. But that is not why we have called for both of you. Based on what the accused had said, we determined that they were bribed to kill both you and Spyro, though they were only supposed to kill Spyro. Has this happened before?" Spyro and Iseras blanched at what they had just heard. Spyro answered, "Y-Yes. Someone had poisoned Iseras in an attempt to kill him."

"It's obvious that someone has taken quite the keen interest in you two. We will work to discover who is trying to kill you two. In the meantime, your training will continue and watch each other's backs." Iseras and Spyro left, relieved. They met with Jiaolian, who began teaching Spyro on how to use his flame, and Iseras on how to use his electricity and finish his special training.

As weeks turned into months, the brothers' trainings were nearing their end. Spyro had only learned fire, but Iseras had learned, fire, electricity, ice, and earth-in that order. Iseras had also discovered that he had a huge magic potential after casting a spell on some dummies. Also, Iseras had successfully completed his special training. While it didn't mean that his inner demons wouldn't rise up, it would at least mean that he wouldn't lose control easily.

Titan came to see the duo off after five months of hard training. "Where will you two go?" "We were thinking of liberating the Magic Crafters next. We need to learn some spells that might help us." Spyro and Iseras boarded the balloon that would take them to the Magic Crafters. "Good luck! And remember your training here!" yelled Titan as the brothers departed. "Thanks!" they yelled in return, and set off for the Magic Crafters.

They arrived to find Gnorcs running around everywhere. "Better get started." muttered Iseras as Spyro charged off. Spyro went to town on the small Gnorcs, while Iseras torched, zapped, froze, or crushed the big Gnorcs. After finishing off his fourth big Gnorc, Iseras saw Spyro struggling with a particularly fast Gnorc. Iseras laughed and ran over to help.

Spyro had managed to fight his way through a dozen small Gnorcs, but one fast Gnorc was driving him crazy! He couldn't catch up with it no matter how hard he tried. He chased and chased and chased it until he was near exhaustion. Suddenly, the small Gnorc was frozen solid and Spyro smacked right into it. Iseras laughed and said, "Can you catch up to it now?" Spyro just growled and shattered the ice, killing the Gnorc.

Iseras and Spyro quickly freed the Magic Crafter dragons before moving on to the other worlds. Spyro and Iseras went through the worlds and did what they did best…kick Gnorc butt. They released the dragons and returned safe and sound, mostly. Iseras had taken a lightning bolt from a Gnorc and had a shocking experience with electricity…again.

"Well, now that the world is free, let's go fight the boss." said Spyro as he ran off. Iseras just sighed and followed. They flew in and searched for the boss, Blowhard. "I wonder if they gave him that name when he sneezed?" joked Iseras, getting a laugh from Spyro. Iseras had cleared the way using his fire breath, so Spyro and Iseras soon confronted Blowhard.

Iseras attacked first, but before he could use his fire breath, he was blown away. Iseras screamed as he was lifted and thrown a far distance before smashing into a cliff wall. He was able to dig his claws in and arrest his fall. He looked down and noticed that it was looong fall.

Spyro watched in horror as Iseras was thrown like a rag doll some distance away. Focusing himself, Spyro attacked Blowhard while he was distracted. Blowhard fled after a few hits, but didn't get far as Spyro caught up and killed him. Spyro then ran off to find Iseras.

Iseras was hanging on for dear life, but he could feel his claws slipping. "How come every time I have to fight a general, something bad happens to me?" he asked to no one in particular. Spyro kept searching for Iseras, occasionally calling out his name.

"Iseras!" Iseras heard Spyro's call and responded, "Here!" Spyro came running and looked around. "The cliff!" Spyro looked over the edge and saw Iseras hanging on for dear life. Spyro quickly grabbed Iseras's paw and helped him up. Iseras scrambled madly up the cliff face, but slipped several times.

After several heart-stopping minutes, Iseras finally got onto solid ground. Iseras collapsed and tried to regain his breath. "You know, if this keeps up, I'm going to let you take on the bosses alone." panted Iseras.

They returned to the Magic Crafters to report their success. "Thank you!" "Yeah. Hey, I found in the Peace Keeper Realm that I have quite the aptitude for magic. Could you guys possibly train us in the use of magic?" The Magic Crafters were surprised, Cosmos especially. "You want to learn magic?" "Well, we didn't come here to learn the laws of physics." responded Iseras. "Very well. Starting tomorrow, we will begin to teach you magic."

To be continued…


	11. Magic Fight

Magic Fight

Spyro and Iseras were led by Cosmos to the Magic Crafters Temple, where the most elite Magic Crafters reside, the SpellCasters. "I cannot go in, but since you two have knowledge about spells, you can enter. By the way, the leader of the SpellCasters is Galdur; he will be the one you want to talk to." Cosmos left them, and Spyro and Iseras turned to the door. When they approached it, they noticed it was locked.

"Great, where's the doorbell?" asked Spyro as he looked around. "I don't think there is a doorbell Spyro. I think we are supposed to unlock the door. Follow my lead." Iseras walked up to the door and placed his paw on it. He closed his eyes, and said, "_Kuntari._" Iseras's paw glowed and the door groaned, but didn't budge. "Come on Spyro, I need your help."

Spyro walked up to the door and placed his paw on the door as well. Before he could say anything, his paw glowed as well and the door began to grind open. Iseras released the spell as the doors opened and they walked in. A voice was the only warning they had. "_Sarne!_" Spyro leapt right while Iseras leapt left, barely dodging the spell. "_Iescare!_" retaliated Iseras. Electric orbs spat from his mouth and stuck several of the dragons, sending them flying and dazing them.

The fight continued for a few more minutes until one yelled, "_Ashe!_" Iseras was sent flying and hit the doors. The air left his lungs and Spyro ran over to him. "Are you okay?" asked Spyro. "I'm beyond exhausted. This fight has taken its toll. I can barely lift my head." replied Iseras The dragons began to close on the pair, and Spyro took a protective stance over Iseras.

"Don't come anywhere near him." growled Spyro. The dragons just laughed and continued to close. "_Dentero!_" One of the dragons roared in pain as flames suddenly engulfed him. The other dragons quickly extinguished the flames, and healed their comrade. They growled and prepared to attack again. Spyro braced himself, but a voice stopped everyone in their tracks.

"STOP!" bellowed a dragon that had just emerged from a stairwell near the back of the room. The other dragons parted for Galdur, leader of the SpellCasters. Spyro still stood protectively over his weakened brother. "Relax, young dragon. We are not going to harm you." Spyro did not relax, but asked, "Why should I trust you, your minions attacked us as soon as we entered."

"They were told to stop others from entering farther than this room, not to attack whomever came into this room." replied Galdur. He cast a glare at the other dragons, who backed away. "You may enter peacefully. Please, follow me." Iseras then spoke up. "I'm going to need a little bit of help. That fight severely drained my energy." Galdur gazed at Iseras, who was lying on the ground trying his hardest not to fall asleep. He walked over to Iseras, placed a paw on him, and said, "_Piara Restoria._" Iseras felt his energy return and said, "Thank you. My name's Iseras." "Mine is Spyro." "I am Galdur."

Spyro and Iseras followed Galdur to his chambers, where he turned to talk to them. "I observed the battle and I must say, you have some incredible gift for magic Iseras. For not knowing anything about magic, and casting as many powerful spells as you did, you fared pretty well. You also did a decent job Spyro. While you don't possess the gift Iseras has, you have more power than most your age. I also have to ask, are you two related?"

"We're twin brothers." they replied simultaneously. Galdur stared at them in shock. "Twins? That's almost unheard of. Well, it explains on how you were able to hold your own against ten third year SpellCasters." Spyro and Iseras stared at each other, then at Galdur. "We held our own against ten dragons who have three years' magic experience?"

"You did. And with some training, you might be able to hold your own against dragons with many more years' experience." "Actually, that why we came here. We would like to be trained in this field." Galdur was surprised. "No one has actually _wanted_ to come here to train before. This is unexpected." Spyro grinned, "Well, since we are fighting a bunch of Gnorcs, and we plan to confront Gnasty Gnorc, we figured we could use experience in every field. We want to be alive when we kick Gnasty Gnorc's butt."

"Very well, your training will begin in three days. Also, Iseras, may I have a word with you, alone." "Go on, Spyro, I'll be okay." Spyro looked worried, but nodded and left. Galdur inquired, "Why is he worried?" "I was hoping to speak with you alone as well. There is something important you need to know." Iseras then talked about his inner demons awakening and his training to control the demons within. Galdur frowned, "Hmmm, that is important information. Thank you for telling me. We also have a training regiment for that kind of thing." "I could use all the training that I can get."

"Okay, after you finish your lesson in SpellCasting, come find me and I will train you in our special training. Now, I want to tell you something. Due to your high aptitude in magic, you will learn spells that others higher than you don't even know. I saw you conduct Level 2 and Level 3 spells with ease.

"A quick description just so that you aren't confused. Level 1 is the elements. Level 2 is elements infused with magic. Level 3 is just magic. You will learn more Level 2 and Level 3 spells, and you will also learn the two Level 4 spells. These spells are very dangerous, but I believe that you have the strength to conduct them." Iseras smiled and left, satisfied that he would soon learn more.

To be continued…


	12. Inferante

_Inferante_

Three days later, Spyro and Iseras went to training. "Okay you two," said their instructor for today, "how much do you know?" "Did you see the fight between us and those dragons at the entrance?" asked Spyro. "Yes." "That's basically how much we know." said Iseras. "Well, that makes things easier."

Training proceeded well for Iseras, but Spyro struggled with the spells. Whenever he faltered, Iseras would guide him through the spell until Spyro could do it himself. When they finished, Iseras went to find Galdur to increase his mental training against his inner demons.

Spyro rested while Iseras continued with his special training. He had told Spyro about it after he had met him in their room. '_I'm happy for you brother. You're doing your best to make sure that these demons don't control you._' thought Spyro as he drifted off to sleep.

"Hey, wake up Spyro." Spyro's eyes opened to see Iseras before him. "And I thought I was a deep sleeper, good grief." Spyro yawned and looked at Iseras better. "How did your training go?" Iseras groaned, "I feel like we're back at the Peace Keepers again. I need to go to bed, and from the looks of it, so do you." Spyro nodded and walked off to bed. Iseras followed and climbed in to his own bed. Before Spyro could even say 'Good Night', he heard Iseras snore. '_Wow, he's wiped out._' Spyro closed his eyes and he too, fell asleep.

Their training progressed nicely for the next seven weeks. Iseras spent as much time as he could performing mental training with Galdur, and he was finished in time for him to learn the Level 4 spells. Spyro accompanied Iseras to the training, though he himself would not train, as he didn't have the strength. Iseras joined the other students and was surprised when Galdur entered.

"Greetings everyone. I will be training you in the two Level 4 spells that there are. Let's begin." Iseras spotted something glinting behind Galdur. Curiosity got the better of him and he took a peek. It was a sword, jammed into a rock. The sword's hilt was long and black, with silver and gold embroidering. A yellow eight-point star was engraved on it. The blade was about as wide as he was, and was silver. "Galdur, what is that sword?"

Galdur turned and said, "That, Iseras is a mystical sword. We don't know what it is called, but it is rumored that it is the most powerful weapon in existence." "Has anybody tried to wield it?" asked Iseras. "Yes, but none had even managed to lift it." Galdur turned to the students and resumed training them. Iseras felt something strange emanate from the sword, and without thinking he approached the sword. As he examined it, he noticed the handle was fit for a dragon's paw.

'_I wonder if it fits my paw_.' Iseras lifted his left paw and wrapped around the handle. Without thinking, Iseras began to lift the sword. Galdur noticed what Iseras was doing and cried out, "Iseras no!" as he ran over to him.

With a distinctive sound of rock on metal, the sword lifted free of the rock. The momentum carried Iseras around to where he was facing Galdur. now Iseras could get a better look at it. The sword was as wide as his chest about two-thirds of the length of the blade, then it narrowed down sharply to about the width of a normal sword. On the other side of the hilt, it had a silver silhouette of what could best be described as a bell and two rounded right triangles below it facing away from each other. (Imagine the mark on Cynder's forehead) The sword began to glow, and Galdur stopped dead in his tracks. Iseras gasped as massive amounts of knowledge poured into his mind. He dropped the sword, but it never hit the ground. When Iseras opened his eyes, he felt something on his back. He looked back and saw a sheath with the sword in it.

Iseras looked at Galdur who was astonished. "H-How?" Without thinking, Iseras responded, "The sword chooses its wielder. And it chose me." "How did you know that?" "It told me everything about it." "What is its name?" "_Inferante_." Galdur was amazed. "That means 'Ancient Fire' in the ancient language. So why did it choose you?" "_Inferante_ chooses a wielder for his heart. It chose me because I was the purest heart it had met." Galdur smiled, "Well then, it looks like you will be learning a bit more from us."

After Iseras learned the two Level 4 spells, _Serensorta_ and _Tachira_, he began to learn on how to use _Inferante_ in combat. First he had to learn on how to balance on two legs, which was hard since he was used to walking on all fours. Then came the sword combat. Iseras would struggle, but he wouldn't give up. After an additional five weeks of training, Iseras learned how to use _Inferante_.

Iseras was practicing when Spyro came in. "Hey brother." "Hey. Galdur has asked to see us." Iseras returned _Inferante_ to its sheath and dropped back down to all fours. The sheath had been angled to avoid Iseras's wings and had fitted itself to contour to Iseras's spines. They walked in to where Iseras had pulled _Inferante_ out of the rock.

"I'm glad you two arrived. I had one last thing to tell you before you leave." Spyro and Iseras waited. "You see, every dragon who graduates here does one last thing. They must fight me." Spyro and Iseras were shocked. "But, since one of you holds the mystical sword, I have decided it would be better to do things a little differently." Spyro and Iseras looked at each other. Before either one of them could make a move, Galdur whirled on them and pinned them to the ground.

His paws glowed and the brothers screamed as their powers were drained. Galdur laughed insanely as he drained them of their powers. "You two are the strongest that I have ever met. Once I am done here, I will consume your bodies, making me the most powerful dragon in the world!"

"HHHHHEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!" Spyro and Iseras yelled as loud as they could. Galdur growled and began to drain their powers faster, causing them to scream at the top of their lungs. The door to the room exploded and several SpellCaster instructors barged into the room with several advanced students behind them. "You're too late!" said Galdur as his paws faded. He threw Spyro and Iseras to them. They caught the brothers and set them down gently. They were still smoking from having their powers drained, and were very weak.

The instructors roared and cast several spells at Galdur, who just simply evaded them. He cast spells of his own and killed some of the instructors and students. Iseras groaned as he saw the battle going on. One student was protecting them while the others fought. '_They'll never survive! He's too strong!_' Summoning the last of his strength, Iseras pulled _Inferante_ out of its sheath and tried to stand. "Help me up." groaned Iseras. The student didn't argue but helped Iseras onto his back legs and kept him steady. Iseras pointed the sword at Galdur and with his remaining strength, yelled, "_Serensorta!_" The sword glowed and a beam of light struck Galdur right in the chest. He gurgled and fell over, dead.

Having depleted the last of his strength, Iseras dropped _Inferante_ onto the ground as he collapsed. He barely heard the sword impact the ground as blackness surrounded his consciousness.

To be continued…


	13. Drevni Ajagara

_Drevni __Ajagara_

Iseras groaned as he opened his eyes. '_Ugh. what happened to Spyro and me?_' As the images came trickling back into his memory, Iseras's eyes snapped open. "Spyro!" exclaimed Iseras. He looked around to see Spyro asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief. Spyro was okay. "You're awake." Iseras turned his head to see a SpellCaster coming towards him. Iseras growled. "Relax, I am not Galdur. My name is Jadu. I am the new head of the SpellCasters." Iseras relaxed.

"Why did Galdur do those things to us?" asked Iseras. "Iseras, Galdur was insane. All he cared about was power. However, what he taught you guys was real, so he helped you both a great deal. You especially Iseras." "Will we get our powers back?" "They recharged while you were asleep. Iseras, I hate to ask this of you, but I need to see inside your mind. I have to make sure that Galdur didn't sabotage your mental training." Iseras lowered his head, indicating that it was okay.

Jadu placed his hand on Iseras's forehead and looked into his mind. There was definitely evidence of sabotage, and Jadu repaired the sabotage that Galdur had done. When he was finished, he noticed a pulsating energy. When he touched it, he was flooded with Iseras's power, memories, and feelings. Iseras screamed in pain, and Jadu severed the connection. Iseras was shedding tears of pain and clutching his chest. "Iseras, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause you pain." "It hurts." cried Iseras he continued to clutch his chest.

"Let me see." said Jadu softly. Iseras slowly lowered his paws to reveal a golden outline of a dragon. The dragon's head was turned to its side and the outline of fire could be seen outside of its mouth. Its wings were unfurled and angled upward. Jadu noticed the same outline on Spyro's chest. Both outlines were pulsating.

'_They carry the mark of the _Drevni Ajagara!' "What is that?" asked Iseras, obviously still in pain. That is the mark of the _Drevni Ajagara_-the Ancient Dragon. It is rumored that those who carry this mark will be the greatest dragons of all time. I thought it was just a myth. It's supposed to occur only to dragon twins."

The pain faded enough for Iseras to speak clearly. "Spyro and I _are_ dragon twins. How long was I asleep?" "One month. With you having _Inferante_ and the _Drevni __Ajagara_, I think that we can expect great things from you. I know the others would kill me for teaching you this, but I think you need to know this. There is one more level of spell out there. It is Level 5, the 'Legend Spell'."

The mark disappeared and Iseras asked, "What is the 'Legend Spell'?" "Everyone knows the power of their name, but few know its true power. That is all that I can say." Iseras nodded, then asked, "Jadu, how did I pull off that spell and not die?" "Iseras, you're bonded with your brother in more ways than one."

"Thank you, Jadu. It means a lot to us. You have done so much for us." "No, I should thank you, Iseras. Galdur had been draining young dragons' powers for years and killing them. You stopped his murdering rampage. Thank you."

Spyro woke up two days later and they departed. Jadu wished them a safe journey as they left. As they returned to Cosmos, Iseras brought Spyro up-to-speed on what he had learned over the past two days. They returned to Cosmos, who was impressed by how much they had learned. "That's not all Cosmos. We also have something called the mark of the _Drevni __Ajagara_-the Ancient Dragon." Fascinated, Cosmos wanted to see the mark. Iseras recoiled at the thought. "Last the mark showed up, it caused me tremendous pain. I am not going through that again."

Cosmos understood and did not press the issue, but when the brothers arrived before the Magic Crafters Council, many were harder to deter. One actually went into Iseras's mind and touched the same area that Jadu did before. Both brothers screamed in pain and clutched their chests as the marks appeared. The dragon did not relent, and continued attacking Iseras's mind, determined to see the mark.

Just then Jadu bust in and yelled _Ashe_! at the dragon. The dragon flew backwards and slammed into the wall, releasing his attack on Iseras's mind. The young dragons collapsed and continued to scream in pain. Eventually, the pain subsided enough to allow them to stand back up, revealing the marks. The Magic Crafters were in awe, even the one who had just been shaken out of his daze.

"Impressive." "_Anda __kinma hude a gensa!_" yelled Iseras. "What did he say?" "I'm not translating that." said Jadu. "_Anda doen nie iskam depi imanal_." replied Spyro. "What are they speaking?" "Ancient Draconian. Spyro said 'You do not want to know.' How do you know what he said?" "_I vetem doen_." "'I just do.' Good enough for me. But how did you learn the language?" Iseras responded, "_Inferante_." Spyro responded, "_Mecari __anaia_" "'My brother.' Oh, you mean your link. Amazing. You know what he knows?"

"_Kylla._" "'Yes.' And if you are linked mentally, it means that you could tell each other stuff." "Z_er neni __duten beteken_?" asked Iseras. "'What does that mean?' It means, Iseras, that if either you or Spyro got into trouble, you could tell the other without speaking." "Cool." said Spyro and Iseras.

"Do you guys even know when you change languages?" "_N__iama_." they said at the same time. "I thought not."

To be continued…


	14. The Shadow Clan

The Shadow Clan

After getting everyone settled down, Jadu quickly explained the events to the other Magic Crafters. Spyro and Iseras stood behind Jadu for safety. The one dragon that attacked the brothers had been kicked out for the duration of the meeting.

"Okay. Thank you for telling us about this." Cosmos said to Jadu. Cosmos's face was grim. "Spyro, Iseras? I must apologize on the behalf of my colleagues. We didn't realize how much this mark affected you." "Apology accepted." they replied. Jadu stood in the corner of the room while Spyro and Iseras finished their briefing.

"Well, we can't keep you two. Go to the balloonist and get to the Beast Makers. Keep your minds clear and watch your backs. You never know who your enemies are." the meeting adjourned, Spyro and Iseras left with Jadu to go to the balloonist.

"So why did you come down Jadu? I thought that SpellCasters never left the Temple." "We rarely leave the Temple. I came down because I had sensed that you two would need it. How are you feeling?" "We're feeling fine now. And thanks for the help."

Jadu departed for the Temple when they were about halfway to the balloonist. After he was out of sight, the brothers continued to the balloonist. Unfortunately the dragon that had attacked them was a member of an evil organization of dragons known as the Shadow Clan, and he was following them with several of the Shadow Clan behind him.

When they were in an isolated area, the Shadow Clan attacked the brothers. Spells and blows were exchanged, but the far superior dragons quickly overwhelmed the brothers. The mysterious dragon approached the imprisoned pair. "Hmph. Pitiful." Spyro and Iseras exchanged glances. "Yes, I am the same dragon who was in the council chambers.

"Now listen you two. You may be powerful, but you're not powerful enough to beat us. Therefore, you will have only this option. Join us or die." Spyro snarled, "We would never join you!" The dragon just smiled, "On the contrary, we merely need to control one of you and the other will join willingly." He smiled terrifyingly and began to approach Iseras.

"And it seems that one of you can already be controlled." Iseras thrashed and managed to get free after nicking the imprisoning dragon in his forepaw. Iseras quickly jumped on his back and bit down on his wing. Iseras gave a gut-wrenching twist and a roar of pain escaped the dragon as Iseras broke his wing. This distracted the other imprisoning dragon enough to allow Spyro to escape.

The brothers reunited facing their attackers. The Shadow dragons reassembled and prepared to attack. Iseras drew _Inferante_ from its sheath and prepared for battle. The dragons merely smiled and prepared to attack. Growling, Iseras felt a different power rise up. Sensing the power of _Inferante_, Iseras summoned up the power and pointed the sword the leader.

The leader merely smiled and taunted, "Think you can beat us with a poor quality copy?" Iseras just growled and saw _Inferante_ darken. Without thinking, he said, "_Istal!_" A dark beam shot out from _Inferante_ and sliced through the leader. Blood poured freely as the dragon collapsed and slowly died. The others, upon seeing their leader felled, turned and fled into the shadows.

Iseras sheathed _Inferante_ and turned to see Spyro gaping. "What?" "Y-you j-j-just did a Dark Spell Iseras. And yet, you didn't change." Iseras stood there for a moment before it clicked. "You're right! Spyro, _Inferante_ isn't just a sword of light, it's also a sword of darkness!" A few minutes later Jadu came flying in as fast as he could.

"Who cast the Dark Spell? I sensed that spell from the Temple!" Iseras was about to speak, but a flicker caught his eye and he shouted, "Down!" while he drew _Inferante_. Jadu threw himself onto the ground as Iseras yelled, "_Rabia!_" A green beam lanced out and impaled a Shadow dragon through the throat and decapitated him. His now headless body spasmed for a few seconds before lying still.

Jadu looked at Iseras and _Inferante_ before asking, "_You_ casted the Dark Spell?" "Not entirely me." replied Iseras, indicating _Inferante_. "I can cast both kinds of spells safely." Jadu nodded as several SpellCasters showed up as well. "Spread out. Shadow dragons are here." Jadu ordered.

Spyro and Iseras departed and reached the balloonist safely. Jadu came up and said, "Watch yourselves out there. The Shadow Clan is cunning and ruthless. I don't like that they have expressed an interest in you, but after that skirmish with them, they will be wary when they next approach you. Good luck!"

To be continued…


	15. Metalhead

Metalhead

"Who ever knew that the best place to make beasts…would be swamp!" complained Iseras as they trudged through the Beast Makers world. They had freed the dragons from most places, and now trudged onward to the next portal. "Oh, stop complaining Iseras. We have easily kicked every Gnorc's butt that we have encountered," "Yeah, but not before learning the hard way that they use electricity!" said Iseras as they remembered the event.

The duo had just arrived at the Beast Makers and they had noticed a lot of metal. "Geez, this place is like a junkyard." remarked Iseras as he sniffed at a metal floor. Spyro saw a Gnorc holding something that crackled and was about to put it on the metal. At the same time, Iseras was about to place his paw on the metal. "Wait!" Spyro exclaimed, but it was too late. Iseras placed his paw on the metal as the Gnorc touched the metal with the rod.

Iseras screamed as electricity crackled through him. Spyro could only watch in horror as his brother was electrocuted. The Gnorc lifted the rod and Iseras fell over, smoking. Spyro raced over and pulled Iseras off the metal just as the Gnorc placed the electric rod on the metal again. He looked at his brother and was relieved when he saw the rise and fall of Iseras's chest.

Coming back from memory lane, the brothers trudged on. "Why here? It's so humid that I think that I have stuff growing on me." Spyro just groaned at his brother's constant complaining. "You know, I think that you getting electrocuted messed with your head a little bit." Eventually they came to the boss, Metalhead.

"I wonder if they call him that because he's that stupid?" joked Spyro as they entered. Immediately they saw a huge Gnorc made out of nothing but metal. "No wonder they call him Metalhead." As they approached, Metalhead shot an electric bolt at Iseras. Iseras took cover behind a pole, and the electric bolt hit the pole, destroying it. Metalhead turned and ran into the next room, where two poles fed him electricity.

'_The poles!_' thought Iseras. "Spyro destroy the-aaaahhhhh!" screamed Iseras as an electric bolt hit him. Again, Iseras fell, but didn't pass out immediately. Spyro ran over to him and Iseras said weakly, "The poles." then passed out. Spyro turned and saw a pole powering up. Taking into account what Iseras was trying to say, Spyro charged the pole. The pole shattered upon impact, and the effect was immediately seen.

Seeing his weakness, Spyro smashed the other pole, making Metalhead flee again. Spyro made sure that Iseras was still alive, then ran into the next room. There, Spyro smashed one pole, and Metalhead destroyed the other two trying to hit Spyro. With no more power, Metalhead disappeared.

Spyro walked back to Iseras and waited while Iseras recovered from the zap. He awoke a little while later and pair departed to brief the Beast Makers council. After finishing up there, the brothers went to depart for the Dream Weavers. However, some dragons had a different idea. They slowly crept up on the unaware duo and with a couple powerful whacks, knocked out the walking pair.

To be continued…


	16. A Shadow's Mistake

A Shadow's Mistake

Slowly, Iseras opened his eyes and looked around. It was so dark that he could barely see. From he could see, he was in some sort of cell. As his eyes adjusted to the low light, Iseras saw Spyro. "Spyro!" Iseras ran to Spyro, and shook him awake. "Wake up Spyro!" Spyro groaned as his eyes opened.

With another groan, Spyro sat up. "Iseras, where are we?" Iseras took another look around before answering, "I don't know. Last thing I remember is us walking towards the balloonist, then getting hit on the back of the head and then, nothing." Spyro let his eyes adjust to the light as well and saw something on Iseras' neck. "Iseras, what is that on your neck?" Iseras looked down and said, "I don't know." Iseras saw the same thing on Spyro's neck. "Spyro, you have one too."

just then the door opened and blinding light flooded the room. Iseras and Spyro squinted and recoiled from the light. A dragon stepped into the room and said, "Good, you're both awake. I am Urrej. Now come with me." The brothers were still trying to let their eyes adjust, and thus didn't move.

Urrej nodded at some dragon outside and the brothers began to scream in pain as sonic pulses assaulted them. After a few agonizing seconds, the pulses were stopped. "I gave you an order, now come!" Despite them being unable to see, the brothers walked towards him. They walked to the doorway and were barely able to see the hallway beyond. Urrej motioned for them to follow and they did, not wanting another experience like before.

Urrej led them into a room that looked like a conference room for royalty. The brothers' eyes had adjusted to the higher lighting and they could see that they were in a Shadow Clan base. "Now, since you two won't join us willingly, we are going to make you. Those collars are sonic pulse collars. They're designed to incapacitate you until we decide to stop the pulses. If you do anything that we don't like, we will activate the collars."

Hoping to try to surprise him, Iseras quickly tried to draw _Inferante_, but when his aw touched the hilt, the collars activated and they both screamed in agony as the pulses again assaulted them. Urrej stopped the pulses and continued, "The collars will also automatically activate if you try to draw your weapon. Now if you haven't noticed, both collars activate if one collar is activated. They are also equipped with a proximity sensor, so if you manage to escape, you won't get very far."'

That being said, the brothers were separated. Iseras was thrown back into the cell while Spyro was taken to another room. There, Spyro was assaulted until he either submitted to them or was knocked unconscious. After several hours of brutalizing him and not seeing any change, Spyro was drug back to the cell and tossed in while Iseras was taken out to have the same treatment.

Again and again the brothers would be brutalized and tortured in every way possible to try to get them to submit before the Shadow Clan dragons. Also, if the dragons were bored, they could go and do what they wanted to Iseras and Spyro. Every time the brothers tried to fight back or do anything that somebody didn't like for some reason, their collars were activated and the brothers would go through anything from a few seconds to several minutes of agony.

Spyro and Iseras tried to escape a few times, but they all led to failure. They were always either caught by a Shadow Clan dragon within a few minutes of their escape attempt. As a punishment, their collars were activated and left on for a day per escape attempt. The brothers stopped trying after their fourth attempt.

"Spyro, I'm frightened. They've been attacking my mental training, and feel myself slipping. I'm going to lose myself brother, and when I do, I fear that you won't be there to stop me." Spyro walked over to his brother and comforted him as best as he could. This was bad news; if Iseras lost control when he wasn't around, then a lot of dragons would end up dead, even if they were evil.

Then the dragons came and took Iseras away again. Both brothers had lost track of time from their torture. Again Iseras's mental training was attacked, and despite his best efforts, Iseras felt his inner demons rise up.

A low growl was their only warning, but the dragons paid it no heed. With a roar of pure unbridled rage, Iseras ferociously attacked his tormentors. Having no control over his own actions, Iseras tore them limb from limb. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with blood, and Iseras was more crimson red that light blue. Blood dripped from his claws, tail blade, and maw, and he had a look of blood lust in his eyes.

Iseras smashed the door down and ruthlessly mauled the guards. He ran down the hallway, brutally slaughtering all he came across. The Shadow Clan dragon base was filled with agonizing screams of terror and pain, along with a roar that frightened even the strongest of dragons. Iseras' collar was active, but it didn't slow him down one bit.

Spyro was screaming in agony as the Sonic Pulse Collar assaulted him with wave after wave of excruciating pain. Then, suddenly, the pain stopped. Spyro looked around wondering why the collar had suddenly stopped. Then the cell door was smashed open and Iseras stood there, his scales covered in blood, his jaws, tail blade, and claws soaked red, and a look of blood lust in his eyes.

Iseras growled, revealing his teeth, now covered in his victims' blood. Tears streamed freely down Spyro's face as he saw his brother. He barely noticed his brother's approach, nor when Iseras knocked him down. Iseras stood over him, jaw spread wide, ready to deliver the killing blow. "I love you brother." said Spyro as he waited for him to deliver the killing blow.

The blow never came. Instead, Iseras growled in pain. Spyro got up the see his brother shaking his head, then he looked at Spyro, the blood lust draining from his eyes. Spyro walked over and nuzzled his brother, who was shaking off the last effects of the demons' control.

Neither one of them said a word as they walked out. Spyro gasped in horror, while Iseras simply averted his eyes. The hall was covered in the body parts of the dragons that Iseras had slaughtered. And there was blood everywhere. Spyro walked slowly to where Urrej had taken them from time to time.

They pushed open the doors, and found Urrej cowering. "Out." Spyro ordered. Terrified, Urrej obeyed, his eyes never leaving Iseras, who was still covered in blood. "Now, remove these collars." Urrej mumbled a spell and the collars fell away. "Will you let us leave without pursuit?" Urrej nodded, and the brothers turned and left. They found an exit and walked out of the base.

The brothers returned to the Beast Makers world, where they found out that they had been missing for two-and-a-half weeks. Iseras was led to a place where he could wash himself off, and Spyro told the council about their captivity. "We only managed to get away because Iseras' demons took control. While I was horrified by the aftermath, I am grateful the they were scared enough to let us leave."

"This is grave. If Iseras lost control, won't he lose control again?" "That's what his mental training was for, but it's been compromised. However, he won't lose control if he isn't provoked. Now if you'll excuse me, my brother needs me." "Go. Don't let us keep you." Spyro ran off to fins his brother. He found him next to a pond, and while Iseras wouldn't talk in the open, he did talk with Spyro through their bond.

'I'm in so much trouble.' said Iseras. 'Nonsense, what you did wasn't your fault, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. Now I know this isn't the best thing to say, but your demons helped us escape. If they hadn't done what they did, we may have bent to their will within a few days.' 'Still, I'm dangerous now. I've seen the looks. Some want to see me gone, some want to kill me, some hate me, and some fear me. I can't deal with this.' 'You aren't alone my brother. I will help and support you through anything. Come on, as much as I would like to see you recover, we need to free the Dream Weavers still. Then we can relax and get some recovery time before we fight Gnasty Gnorc. Who knows, maybe kicking some Gnorc butt will get you out of this.'

Iseras got himself up and left with Spyro to go to the Dream Weavers. Along the way, Iseras never spoke a word, ate very little, and did as little as possible while Spyro comforted him.

To be continued…


	17. The Last General

The Last General

The duo arrived at the Dream Weavers and set to work. Iseras had improved enough to be able to use his attacks. For those more powerful attacks, he would use _Inferante_'s power. Iseras still did not speak openly, but nor was he in a depressed stupor.

They swept through the world with ease. Spyro would take on any opponent that he could, and if he couldn't Iseras did. After freeing the dragons, Spyro and Iseras briefed the council. After finishing, one of the Dream Weavers asked, "Can Iseras talk?" Spyro looked at his brother, who gave him a slight nod. "Iseras has a certain problem. His inner demons were awoken prematurely, and he has undergone mental training with both the Peace Keepers and Magic Crafters to ensure that they don't take him over."

"But that doesn't explain why he doesn't speak." "I'm getting to that!" spat Spyro. "Anyways, recently he and I were captives of the Shadow Clan dragons, who want to use us for their evil purposes. During our captivity, they compromised Iseras's mental training, causing him to lose control and go on a murdering rampage. He killed almost all the dragons there in the most brutal way possible." Spyro shuddered at the memories. "Since then, Iseras has not said anything. He's trying to come to terms with what he did, even though he had no control."

They looked at Iseras, who had a single tear fall. "But he simply killed them, didn't he?" Spyro snapped, "It was bloodbath! He tore them apart! When I saw him, he was covered in their blood!" Every dragon went silent. Spyro led Iseras out to find a place to sleep. He found an unoccupied room and gave Iseras the bed. Iseras curled up, but made room for Spyro to climb in as well. Seeing that Iseras was still insecure, Spyro curled up net to his brother and draped a wing over him.

As they slept, the Dream Weaver council worked on giving both of them one of the best nights that they would ever have.

Spyro awoke from the most restful night that he had. Iseras stirred next to him and he too woke up. "Good morning." said Spyro. "Good morning." Spyro was shocked. "We can thank the Dream Weavers. I felt their magic work on us, and I must admit, I owe them more than simple gratitude."

The pair traveled to the Dream Weavers council, where they were expected. "Sleep well?" Iseras replied, "Very, thank you. We both owe you, though I owe more. You helped me not only recover from my ordeal faster, but also, whether knowingly or not, helped me repair enough damage to my mental training that I don't have to immediately worry about losing control of myself." The Dream Weavers smiled, and Spyro also couldn't help but be happy.

After departing the council, the brothers decided to strike at the general of this world, Jacques. They entered the portal and they split up. Iseras was much more careful, using his magic to detect ambushes and avoid them if possible, fight his way out if he couldn't. Spyro also fought his way out the ambushes, and before long he had arrived at the crater of the volcano. But when Spyro heard Iseras' agonizing scream, he dashed for the volcano, and what he saw next made his blood run cold.

Iseras awoke with a scream of agony. He quickly stood up and noticed several things. First, he was shackled to a rock and the shackles were enchanted so he couldn't release the shackles with magic. Second, the rock was surrounded by lava. Third, his right wing was severely burnt, there were pieces of it missing, and there were many open wounds with blood seeping out. His tail was the same way. And the rock was sinking. Iseras desperately looked around and saw Spyro coming after him.

Spyro made his way down to the rim, when Iseras yelled, "No! Don't worry about me! Go find Jacques! He's a magic user and has enchanted the shackles! I can't get free! You have to kill Jacques to release the magic!" Spyro was about to object, but he knew Iseras was right. Spyro saw the rock sinking and knew that he didn't have much time.

Spyro ran off to face Jacques. Iseras would have helped, but Jacques was too far away for Iseras to use magic. Iseras could only watch as Spyro fought Jacques. Jacques would throw boxes at Spyro and would jump around until he sat on a pink box, in which Spyro would run up to him and flame him.

Iseras quickly became aware of another problem. The closer the rock came to the lava, the hotter the shackles became, and the magic also prevented them from cooling down. "Spyro hurry! It's getting hot!" Soon, the metal reached scalding, and Iseras screamed in pain as his scales were literally burned away. Spyro was fighting Jacques at the second of the pink boxes. Finally, Spyro managed to get close enough to flame him.

Jacques again ran away, and Spyro quickly followed, trying his hardest to kill Jacques and save his brother. Iseras now noticed that the rock was really low in the lava, and holes were starting to appear. The rock itself was also too hot to stand on, but the shackles kept his paws firmly planted on the rock. Iseras continued to scream as his paws and his legs where the shackles touched were being burned.

Hearing his brother scream, Spyro moved faster. He quickly ran up to Jacques and gave him a torrent of fire. Jacques was incinerated, and the magic around the shackles disappeared. Iseras quickly said a release spell and the shackles fell into the lava. Iseras quickly leapt off the rock onto another one, and rock hopped all the way back to solid ground.

Once his scalded paws hit solid ground, Iseras collapsed from the pain. Spyro ran back to him and inspected the damage. His paws were severely blistered. His right wing was tattered. His tail was in the same shape, and where the shackles had been, the skin could be clearly seen. And they were all bleeding. Doing his best not to touch the burns, Spyro ran as fast as he could to get Iseras medical attention.

To be continued…


	18. A Past Revealed

A Past Revealed

When Spyro returned from the battle with Jacques, he ran straight for the balloonist. Iseras needed Artisan medicine, but at the rate that he was losing blood, he would die before he reached the Artisan home world. The Magic Crafters were closer, and maybe Jadu would help them.

Spyro told the balloonist to go to the Magic Crafters and they set off. When they reached the Magic Crafters a few hours later, Spyro ran as fast as he could to the SpellCasters. When he arrived, he drew upon Iseras' knowledge and strength to open the door. When he entered, a SpellCaster stopped him. "State your name and business." "I am Spyro, and I need to see Jadu immediately. It's about Iseras."

The SpellCaster let him through and Spyro ran as fast as he could to Jadu. When he arrived, Jadu had just finished instructing some students. "Ah, Spyro. What brings you back here?" "Iseras has been hurt really badly! He needs to get to the Artisan healers, but he's losing too much blood and he won't make it!" panted Spyro. Jadu tossed Spyro onto his back and flew out of the SpellCaster Temple.

Jadu was by Iseras' side within five minutes. "Get us to the Artisan World, and hurry!" said Spyro while Jadu looked over the wounds. "How did he get these?" "He was chained to rock that was sinking into a pool of lava. The shackles were covered with magic so that Iseras couldn't unlock them until I killed him." Jadu said a complicated spell and Iseras' breathing slowed.

"What did you do?" "I put him into a trance to slow the blood loss. With luck, he may survive." They arrived at the Artisan World, where Jadu carried Iseras to the Medical Ward. Nestor had met them and was extremely worried. The healer, Shëroj, set to work on Iseras. Jadu and Nestor were forced to wait outside, but Spyro refused to leave his brother's side, snarling at anyone who tried to make him leave.

Outside, Jadu and Nestor got to talking. "You really care for them, don't you?" asked Jadu. "Yes, not many know this, but they are my sons." Jadu was surprised. "They are your family?" Nestor nodded, "They are. I began Iseras' mental training when he told me about his inner demons. I have watched out for those two since they were eggs. And from what I've seen, you've taken good care of them yourself." "I have. I watched them train, nursed them back to health when they were hurt by an insane SpellCaster, and despite myself, I have nearly thought of them as sons as well." "If it makes you feel any better, I always wanted to appoint a godfather for them, and I think you are just the candidate."

Jadu was taken off-guard, but he was happy, "I would be honored. Nestor, while they have been away, they have done some extraordinary things. First off, they carry the i_Drevni Ajagara_/i, and Iseras wields i_Inferante_/i. And from the rumors, the pair also escaped the clutches of the Shadow Clan dragons. You should be proud to be their father. They have done so much than many others their age."

Shëroj came out after a few hours, and reported that Iseras would survive. When they came in, Nestor and Jadu saw Iseras' paws and tail were wrapped up. His right wing was wrapped up in some spots, but it was mostly left alone. However, they noticed that flesh that was once black and missing was now fully healed. "I was able to heal all the damage on his wing and tail, but I was only able to partially heal his paws, and I couldn't do anything about the burns from the shackles."

Both Iseras and Spyro were sleeping. Nestor went to move Spyro, but Shëroj stopped him. "Iseras would only fall asleep next to Spyro. And right now, Iseras needs his rest." Nestor nodded and the adults left the brothers to sleep. "Those two are inseparable." remarked Jadu. "Yes. One has always been the other's safety blanket. Those two cling to each other as if they were the only two family members that they had, which they are." Jadu shot him a look.

"My mate and I found them when they were just eggs. We raised them, but those two seem to know that we aren't their true family." "You adopted them?" Nestor nodded. "They had no family, and we wanted somebody who would care for them. That meant us."

When Iseras awoke, he noticed that he was bandaged up, and Spyro was asleep next to him. Giving Spyro a couple of nudges to wake him up, Iseras asked, "What happened to me? Why am I here?" Spyro yawned and replied, "After the battle with Jacques and your escape from that deathtrap, you passed out. I carried you to the balloonist, then went to get Jadu, who placed you in a trance before we got you here, where you were healed up."

Jadu and Nestor arrived a couple of hours later, and Nestor bombarded them with questions. Iseras and Spyro answered as best as they could, but when it came to their captivity, it was Spyro alone who talked. Nestor looked at Iseras with a fatherly compassion. "Now, Shëroj has told us that he completely healed your wing and tail, but he was only able to partially heal your paws, and could do nothing abut your lower legs."

After a few more days, Shëroj removed the bandages. Iseras' wing was perfectly fine, along with his tail, but when Shëroj pulled off the bandages from his paws and lower legs, he was shocked. Iseras' paws had some scars, but where the shackles had so severely burned him, were large scars. The scales had regenerated there, but they were different than the surrounding scales, a constant reminder of the near-death experience.

With the Dragon Realms freed, Spyro and Iseras took a much-needed break before they went off to Gnasty's World.

To be continued...


	19. The End of an Adventure

The End of an Adventure

Spyro and Iseras were taking a stroll through the Artisan World. "So Iseras, how did you end up on that rock?" asked Spyro. "Jacques got the drop on me. He used magic to hide from my senses. The last thing that I remember is seeing his shadow, then turning around. After that, nothing. He must have knocked me out."

With Iseras fully healed, the duo had spent some much-needed quality time relaxing. With the Dragon Realms secure, all that was left was to fight Gnasty Gnorc, but he would wait until Spyro and Iseras had rested. In the meantime, the brothers would explore their home.

The two did so much in the next two months. First, they explored their home more thoroughly, then they did all sorts of harmless shenanigans that always got them a laugh. The two were happy. They felt that it was life before any of this even happened. All their fears and worries were at least temporarily out of their minds. Nestor watched over them, and Jadu had returned to the Magic Crafters.

But all too soon, their vacation was up and they had to travel to Gnasty Gnorc's world. Nestor walked up to them and said, "Good luck my sons. And be safe." "We will dad, and thanks!" they replied as the balloonist lifted off.

They arrived in Gnasty Gnorc's world a few days later and set to work. "What a dump!" "I know; it's a scavenger's dream." The pair quickly swept through the worlds leading up to the final confrontation with Gnasty Gnorc. The brothers stood outside to portal to Gnasty Gnorc.

"Are you ready?" "No, but if we don't do this now, we never will." The pair jumped into the portal to face Gnasty Gnorc.

"So the two whelps finally show up." said Gnasty Gnorc as the two young dragons faced him. "Who are calling 'whelps' meatbag?" retaliated Iseras. "You're not getting away from us Gnasty. We'll torch ya." Gnasty Gnorc laughed, "I don't think so." And he fired a magic beam…straight at Iseras. Iseras was cut off mid scream as the beam struck him and turned him into a crystal.

"ISERAS!" yelled Spyro as he saw his brother get turned into a crystal. Gnasty Gnorc laughed as Spyro felt tears in his eyes. "He won't be escaping or be released. I perfected the magic so now a dragon can't be released by another dragon." Moving faster than he ever had before, Spyro ran up and unleashed a torrent of flames upon Gnasty. Gnasty back up and ran away. Spyro followed suit, intent on killing Gnasty.

Spyro dodged a magic beam shot at him and charged Gnasty. Again, Spyro unleashed a torrent of flames, and Gnasty was forced to run away again. Spyro jumped from platform to platform as he pursued Gnasty. At the end, Spyro fought Gnasty with all of his strength. "This is for the Dragon Realms!" Spyro delivered a powerful kick to Gnasty's face. "This is for me!" Spyro thrust his tail blade right between Gnasty's armor and pushed as deep as he could. Gnasty screamed in pain as Spyro yelled, "And this is for my brother!" and Spyro unleashed another torrent of flames, incinerating Gnasty.

After killing Gnasty, Spyro slowly returned to Iseras. Iseras was still frozen, but when Spyro touched the platform, nothing happened. Spyro tried again and again, with no success. Dispirited, Spyro lied down beside his brother and cried, tears flowing freely. His brother was frozen forever, with no hope of escape. But as he cried, he failed to notice that the crystal was glowing.

Spyro was startled when he heard a crack. He stepped away as another was heard, then another and another. Then the crystal shattered and Iseras lay there, unconscious. Spyro ran up to Iseras as he groaned and opened his eyes. Spyro embraced Iseras in a choking hug, tears still streaming down his face.

"Iseras! You're okay!" cried Spyro. "C-Can't b-b-breathe!" Spyro released Iseras and stepped back. Iseras saw the tears and asked, "Why are you crying?" "Don't you remember? Gnasty imprisoned you in a crystal." The memories returned to Iseras and he growled, "Where is he? I need to kill something." "I killed him."

"You killed him? All by yourself?" Spyro nodded, the tears finally ending. Iseras laughed, "Nice! You killed Gnasty Gnorc and freed me. You are quite the hero." Spyro and Iseras left and returned to the Artisan World, where they informed everyone that Gnasty Gnorc was dead.

After the celebrations had died down, Spyro and Iseras gave a complete and accurate recount of what actually happened when they faced Gnasty Gnorc to their father. "I was hailed as a hero when it was Spyro alone. I was frozen in a crystal, and if it weren't for the love that we share for each other, I wouldn't have been released. I owe him more than my life." said Iseras. Throughout their whole adventure, the brothers had gotten closer than ever, and that bond would prove vital for the future.

To be continued…


	20. Unexpected Adventure

Unexpected Adventure

Several creatures were working at a portal. One was a mole, another was a faun, a third was a cheetah, and there were several fairies. "There! The super-portal's complete! All I need to do now is test it. I need some coordinates." said the mole. The cheetah said, "What about your birthday Professor?" "Good idea." The Professor typed in the coordinates and the portal activated.

A short red dinosaur came out of the portal with a big green and a big blue dinosaur. "Wha-Where am I?" The red dinosaur took a few sniffs of the air. "No dragons? Excellent! I think I'll move in. Crush, Gulp; go get my bags." But before they could enter the portal, the fairies took the power orbs, shutting down the portal and scattering the orbs.

The Professor, the cheetah and the faun ran off, and regrouped at another portal, where they were brought two orbs to use. The Professor began to work on rewiring the portal to bring a dragon to Avalar.

Meanwhile, Spyro and Iseras were in Artisan Home. It was cloudy and rainy, as it had been for a few months. "Man, is this rain ever going to stop? I forgot what the sun looks like." said Spyro. "I know what you mean. This rain is dampening my normally cheery spirits." "We need a vacation, someplace where we can see the sun." Spyro looked around and spotted a portal. "Dragon Shores! Yeah, we haven't been there since we kicked Gnasty Gnorc's butt."

Spyro ran for the portal saying, "Last one there's a Gnorc!" Spyro and Iseras raced to the portal and entered it at the same time.

At Avalar, the Professor was still working on the orbs. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, a dragon sounds dangerous." "Chill out Hunter, a dragon is the only thing that can help us beat Ripto." "But aren't they more dangerous than Ripto. They have claws like _that_, and teeth like **_that_**." Hunter spread his arms to emphasize. "And they spit fire like this!" Hunter spit a couple of times. "Hey, I got it working! I got a dragon!" The portal activated and Spyro and Iseras came tumbling out.

"Wow that was rough. Hi, could you point us to the…beach?" Spyro looked around confused. "Spyro, I don't think we're at Dragon Shores." remarked Iseras as he too looked around. They noticed the others staring at them. "What haven't you seen dragons before?" "Oh, this is perfect! Not one, but two dragons!" "Wait, you're dragons?" Spyro and Iseras nodded in unison.

Suddenly a beam hit the portal and destroyed it. Spyro and Iseras turned to see Ripto approach with Crush and Gulp. "What are you hiding? a party and I'm not invited?" Ripto spotted Spyro and Iseras standing in front of him. "Dragons? You brought dragons to Avalar? Gah! I hate dragons!" The faun whispered something to the fairy, but before the fairy could do anything, a fireball flew towards Ripto. He was knocked into the air and Gulp accidentally swallowed the scepter that he was carrying.

"My scepter!" Crush and gulp ran off, while Ripto yelled, "I'll get you!" The Avalarians turned to see Iseras's mouth still smoking from the fireball he launched. "What, he was irritating me." "Can you both do that?" Spyro shook his head, "I can't. He can do a lot of things that I can't." "You'll need to get a layout of the land. Here take this guidebook. I need to go follow Ripto and find out his plans."

Spyro and Iseras got busy. They met some of the locals and they began to collect the gems and defeat enemies. Iseras made easy work of the big lizards with clubs while Spyro tackled the small lizards. Spyro met a mole whom needed some lizards killed. "Iseras!" Iseras came over after torching a bid lizard. "This mole needs some help with some fast lizards. He says that they can't be caught; that they have to be hit from a distance."

"I have some rocks here." said the mole. "I don't need them." The mole was about to inquire, but he stopped when Iseras spat a fireball at the lizard. The lizard was incinerated. "Nicely done! Follow me to the next one." The mole left with Iseras. Spyro had talked with another mole that needed his flame to relight some small lamps that light a larger lamp. Since Iseras was busy, Spyro would do the job. There was a magic system that would allow Spyro to fly for a little while.

Excited, Spyro jumped into the field. The magic took affect and Spyro could feel himself flying! He used his flame breath to light the lamps, and then used the remainder of the magic to collect a few more gems. The mole was so happy that he gave Spyro an orb.

Iseras had managed to incinerate the fourth lizard while Spyro had lit the lamps. Iseras had just arrived at the fifth lizard and took aim. He spat another fireball and scored a direct hit. The mole led him to the sixth lizard, and Iseras blew up the lizard, along with some of the building that it was standing on. Iseras flushed red at the damage and said, "Oops. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You saved my crop of gems! Here, have this. A fairy dropped it." The mole gave Iseras an orb, and Iseras met with Spyro. The two met with another mole, who thanked them for helping them fight the lizards and gave them a talisman, which appeared in the guidebook.

A portal appeared and the mole said, "This portal leads to Summer Forest, one of the home worlds of Avalar." Spyro and Iseras jumped into the portal to head off to Summer Forest.

To be continued…


	21. Summer Forest

Summer Forest

Upon arriving in Summer Forest, Spyro and Iseras finally got to formally introduce themselves to the others. "I never got the chance to introduce myself. I'm Elora."

"Hi. I'm Spyro."

"I'm Iseras."

"What are you, some kind of goat?" asked Spyro.

"I'm a faun you dork!" replied Elora.

"Smooth move brother."

"Wait, you're brothers?" asked Elora.

Iseras nodded, "We're twins."

"We met the miners in Glimmer. They gave me a souvenir, something called a talisman."

"They gave you a talisman."

"Yeah, I just stuck it in the guidebook you gave us."

"Are they important?"

Elora replied, "There are fourteen talismans in Avalar. If you collect them all, you might be able to beat Ripto." Hunter then came out of the portal.

"Hunter, where have you been?"

"I…sort of got lost." said Hunter. Iseras giggled.

"You live here. How do you get lost?"

"Hunter, Spyro and Iseras are going to help us collect the talismans."

"We are?" Spyro and Iseras asked in unison and Hunter asked immediately afterward, "They are?"

"Spyro, Iseras look. There is no way you can go to Dragon Shores right now. Ripto and his monsters have taken over the castle here in Summer Forest. You have to go to each of the worlds and convince the inhabitants to give you their talisman."

"She's got a point brother."

Hunter spoke up, "Hey, I could that! Why don't the dragons just torch Ripto?"

Iseras turned and said, "Ripto's a coward. We'll have to beat his minions first."

"Hunter! You can't even keep track of your running shoes! How are we going to trust you with fourteen talismans?"

Hunter was speechless and Elora continued, "If you come across any orbs, collect them. They're important too, but I'll tell you about them later."

"Okay. No problem. I'll collect a few talismans, give Ripto the old hotfoot, and be in Dragon Shores by lunchtime."

Spyro ran off while Iseras said, "When he says something like that, something goes wrong." Iseras ran off after Spyro and the two set to work.

The two collected all the gems that they could see and defeated the few enemies that were there. But when they came to water, the brothers saw a problem.

"Uh, Spyro? How do we get to those gems? We can't swim." Just then a big bear came over to them.

"Hello, I'm Moneybags. would like to learn how to swim? For a small fee I could teach you both."

He named the price and Spyro and Iseras paid the fee. Within a few minutes Spyro and Iseras had learned how to swim and they dove right in.

"Banzai!" yelled Iseras as he dove in. Spyro grinned at his brother and jumped in after.

after the two were done swimming, they hopped onto an island and laid down to dry off. After drying off, the two saw that they were next to a portal.

"Let's go!" said Spyro and he jumped into the portal.

"Always the adventurous one." remarked Iseras to no one in particular and jumped in.

When they arrived in Idol Springs, they spoke with one of the carvers. Since the idols were made out of wood, Iseras would torch the idols while Spyro helped out the carvers.

Iseras had vanished inside to find more idols. He saw one chasing around a carver and Iseras ran over to help. With a quick shot of flame the idol was nothing but ashes. The carver opened the door and Iseras was about to step through when he saw a carver holding a metal shield. He smiled and shot a bolt of electricity, which made the idol's arm catch fire and ultimately burn itself to ashes.

0000

Meanwhile Spyro was helping a carver unlock his chest. He hopped on a square and watched them turn green, within a few hops he had a pattern and Spyro quickly solved the puzzle.

"Thank you Spyro! Only two more puzzles to go." Spyro nodded and leapt back into the water and emerged for his second challenge. It turned out that he had to feed the big idol, and he had to feed it only certain colored fish. Spyro finished that challenge easily and moved on to the third challenge. He looked at the puzzle, trying to find the pattern. He suddenly recognized it as matching shapes and colors. He solved that puzzle quickly and after the tool chest opened, he got an orb from the carver.

Iseras meantime had just finished torching all of the idols. He met a carver and the carver gave him the Idol Springs talisman. Iseras thanked him and walked away to find Spyro. Fighting those idols had stirred his inner darkness, and that stirring had scared him a little. If his darkness was going to be stirred by this fighting, he might want to fight less and if he loses control, Spyro will need to be nearby.

0000

Spyro accepted the orb and turned to leave the carver female. He had freed them and they destroyed a very large idol. Iseras came running up to him, smiling. The brothers embraced and Iseras said, "I have the talisman Spyro. Those idols were easy."

Spyro nodded, "I got us a few orbs as well. Let's get out of here." They ran off to the portal. On the way Spyro noticed that Iseras was deep in thought, and those thoughts did look very cheery.

"Iseras?" asked Spyro, looking concerned for his brother. Iseras remained silent until they returned to Summer Forest. Once he got there Iseras turned to Spyro.

"Spyro my inner darkness touched me while I used my elements there. It has made me worried that without me being around the others, my darkness may come out."

Spyro immediately pulled Iseras into a brotherly hug. "You always have me my brother. I shall help you through this. From now on we go together everywhere. I will help keep your darkness down. Count on it."

Iseras smiled and he licked Spyro's cheek follows by an affectionate nuzzle. "Thank you brother. I always seem to be happy around you, and you know how to comfort me. And yet, I'm scared."

Spyro said, "You have every reason to be. But we will be courageous and get through this. As long as we have each other we are invincible."

Iseras nodded, "You're right. Come on. We have more talismans to get."

Together the two brothers ran off to the next portal, and their next adventure.

To be continued….


End file.
